


The Shadowed Path

by Jastra



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bad Ending, Creepy Bill Cipher, Dipper gets spirited away, Evil Bill Cipher, Gen, Human Bill Cipher, I don't know how to tag this, I'm sorry Dipper, Inspired by Stranger Things (TV 2016), Kidnapping, Manipulative Bill Cipher, Memory Loss, Poor Dipper, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Bill Cipher, send help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-09-19 02:42:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 55,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9414479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jastra/pseuds/Jastra
Summary: One night when Dipper is making his way back to Mystery Shack after a game Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons with his gnome friends, he gets pulled into a realm of shadows by Bill.The demon seeks to capture Dipper fully and it is only a matter of time until he does.





	1. Black Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> *thinks* I will not start a new Gravity Falls story until I've finished with my other ones. *posts a new story* Damn it...
> 
> So, I wanted to try something a bit different. I have a tendency to write too long chapters that drain my inspiration ect. So, shorter chapters and more of them!!  
> This story is heavily inspired by Stranger Things that I finished a few days ago <3 it was so good.

“Same time tomorrow Dipper?”

“I have to check if it is ok with Mabel, I kinda promised to help her out with one of her many projects, but I have a feeling Candy and Grenda might be more help to Mabel than I,” Dipper replied with a happy and wide smile as he stuffed the Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons game into his backpack that was filled with papers, pens, notebooks, game props and some figurines.

When the boy finally managed to get the set inside his bag, he gave the gnomes a happy grin. “I'd love to come and play though, the campaign is only half done and you have no idea what kind of tests and challenges I've got in store for your heroes.”

 

The group had wrapped up their DD&D gaming session only minutes ago with the dividings of loot and experience. All of the players had been so invested in the story line and their characters' actions that the pre-teen human boy had become completely oblivious to the passage of time. Thankfully, Dipper had managed to look at the clock about 30 minutes before the deadline, but he'd have to hurry home before Grunkle Stan would come with Ford to see if he was ok. No doubt the adults were already worried for him.

The gnome village was deep within the woods and even though there was a path directly to the shack, one that Dipper knew well, it was still late and the dark forest could be hazardous.

 

Dipper had become quite a regular visitor to the gnome village and had gotten to know a small group of “younger” gnomes who all had beards even if they were supposed to be youngsters around his age. His new friends escorted him to the edge of the village all the while trying to get some hints and clues to what they might be facing next, but Dipper was not going to reveal the secrets if the dungeon he had crafted so carefully.

“Vampires? Demons? You’ve got to tell us Dipper!” the gnomes asked but Dipper just gave them a knowing look, the one that said “one of those things probably, but I am not telling you.”

“Come on Dipper! Just a hint so we can at least speculate what we are up against!” the gnome playing a cleric pleaded with puppy eyes.

“Ok fine. You might want to learn how to play with fire,” the Pines boy finally said with a soft laugh, unable to keep all the secrets to himself. "Consider this as a passed charisma check, and just so that you know, because of this I’m going to be extra harsh now with the first few skill checks in next session.”

The boy smiled happily when he saw the bright and excited expressions on his friends' faces. The nerdy gnomes were clearly imagining what horrors could await their characters in the depths of the Gravity Fortress' dungeons. They quickly started to theorize and speculate what was waiting in those dark dungeon cells and caverns the opened beneath the constructed areas.

They tried to come up with solutions to the puzzles they had been unable to solve and wondered if fire was the key. Dipper had put his heart and mind into creating a wonderful campaign that was filled with danger, adventures.

 

“Schembulock,” one of the gnomes with walleyes said and to Dipper's knowledge the gnome in question was one of the younger Schembulocks. Apparently their family line was quite large and well known in the gnome community. The young gnomes had become his DD&D playmates after Ford had become occupied with his research, trying to find ways to defeat Bill and prevent him from entering their world now, and in the future.

Dipper respected Ford and had expressed his wish to help, but Stanford had explained that he needed to go through his old research and that he'd be most helpful if he kept his eyes open for strange things. Thus, Dipper had started venturing deeper and deeper into the woods and had eventually ran into the group of gnomes playing DD&D. Much to the boy’s joy, he had been welcomed instantly to join the game. One thing had led into another and now he was the GM running the game.

“I don't know Schemmy, there might be a demo gorgon in there or maybe not, who knows what skulks beneath that dungeon, “ Dipper replied with a soft chuckle to the simple gnome who was playing a barbarian character with intelligence close to zero. Schemmy had rolled really bad stats for his character.

“Well, we are free tomorrow so if you schedule opens up, just drop by Dipper,” one of his new gnome friends said as they bid their farewell to the brunette who headed into the dark woods. Dipper turned his gaze forward as he followed the forest trail that took him through the dense old forest that hid many mysteries inside it.

The campaign with the gnomes had taken longer than he had anticipated and the journey back to the Mystery Shack was not a quick one, not in the darkness of the night at least. It was well past midnight and 1 am had been the deadline Ford had given him. The graying researcher knew that DD&D sessions could last for a good while and had been generous with time. Last thing Ford wanted was a grumpy pre-teen whose gaming session had been interrupted abruptly.

“I really should add few more vampires into that tomb they might find...and a ghoul, yeah, that could be a nice addition,” Dipper mused out loud as he walked along the path, the few lanterns the gnomes had set as path markers long gone. He now only had the light of the moon and stars to illuminate the faint, almost non-existent path before him.

The tall fir and pine trees towered over him, casting deep shadows over the trail as the silvery moon traveled across the night sky, hiding behind an occasionally passing cloud every now and then. The countless stars scattered across the pitch-black sky looked beautiful, twinkling and shining somewhere across the endless space. 

It had rained earlier that evening and the fresh scent of the forest still lingered in the air, calmed dipper down. Yet, the darkness made him feel uncomfortable and slightly afraid despite knowing the way back to the shack. The fear of darkness was something primal and for some reason Dipper couldn’t shake the feeling of someone staring at him in the darkness. It was eerily quiet, as if the animals were all gone.

Despite the uncomfortable feelings of worry and fear, Dipper felt confident, knowing that after surviving and witnessing so many strange and odd things with Mabel, there probably wasn’t anything in the woods he couldn’t face.

There were few things that really scared the Pines boy anymore; Bill being one of them.

 

_But Bill can't enter this world, not with the rift safely sealed away_ , Dipper thought as walked along the trail, kicking a couple of glistening wet stones that reflected the moon light. The DD&D sessions were times when he was able to think and focus on something else than Bill who was posing a threat to the whole world. The gnomes really knew how to lift his spirit and Mabel too seemed happier since he had stopped pestering her for gaming company.

_I wonder if he is watching me right now,_ Dipper wondered and stopped walking for a moment to just listen and observe his surroundings, trying to feel and see if the dream demon was lurking somewhere in the shadows somehow.

The wind was gone and the forest stood still and silent. The boy peered into the darkness around him but could barely see anything while in the forest.

Dipper closed his eyes so that he'd focus more on his other senses and for a few seconds, he could be sure someone was present watching him, but the sensation was gone in an instant when he opened his eyes once more and turned to look at the direction where he had sensed the presence.

“I must be dreaming,” Dipper sighed and continued his journey back to the Shack. Only 10 more minutes of quick walking and he'd be back in the safety of the Bill proofed Mystery Shack. One thing he feared the most was falling asleep outside it because that'd give the demon an opportunity to invade his dreams and torment him.

Dipper climbed over a large fallen tree trunk and unbeknownst to him, there was a humanoid shadow with claw like hands standing about 3 meters behind him, observing the kid who came upon a small clearing. The shadow stood there, tall and thin, almost completely merged to its surrounding darkness.

 

In the clearing was a small pond, its surface still and dark. It was like a black mirror but oddly enough, Dipper noted that the moon did not reflect from the surface.

_Strange, it looks so odd,_ Dipper thought and somehow felt compelled to approach the dark water, _it’s almost like something from DD &D, some portal to the dark world._

Suddenly, the wind that had been gone for his whole journey returned. Dipper could feel a gentle breeze against his back, scattering few orange and red leaves around him. The Fall was approaching slowly but surely and few trees had started to gain their autumn colors. Soon enough, the summer would be over and he'd return back home with Mabel. As strange as it sounded, perhaps a small part of him was glad to return home and get away from the demon.

It felt as if the wind urged him to approach the beautiful pond and its dark, smooth and almost mirror like surface.

_The water looks so beautiful and eerie,_ Dipper though as he came to the pool of water, crouching down on the grass bank to study the sight.  _I’m really compelled to just touch it._

“What? No reflection?” The pre-teen muttered curiously as he peered into the water only to witness the same thing as with the moon. The pool didn't reflect his form. The water was like pitch-black surface.

“Is this just one of Gravity Fall's phenomenas?” Dipper wondered out loud, thinking that this would be something Stanford would be interested in. “I have to write about this into the journal. Bet this will get Ford’s attention and then he’ll let me in on the big and important stuff.”

Unbeknownst to him, the shadowy monster was slowly approaching him from behind, its movements almost wobbly...staggering as if it was fighting and struggling to keep its faint shadowy form in the material world.

 

Dipper reached out to touch the water, dipping first his fingers and then his hand into the pool. The water rippled around his hand and Dipper felt to dark liquid, swirling his hand slightly. Much to the boy's surprise and astonishment, the water was very cold, too cold for a pool of water this small during a summer time. Sure it was night but the water should have retained more heat.

 

It felt cold, void of any life.

The wind blew again and the shadow was closer now, in fact, it was standing directly behind Dipper who was studying the sight before him.

The trees had eyes on them, all watching the boy who had his hand in the dark pool of water. The black shadow lifted its claw like hand to gently play with the boy's brown hair before crouching down behind him, still tall and lanky enough to tower over him. It almost felt like the breeze that traveled through the woods brought familiar laughter with it.

“I have to be imagining things _”,_ Dipper sighed, unable to feel the tall lanky shadow behind him, yet the feeling of someone watching him persisted and remained, even with his eyes open.

 

“I should hurry back home, no doubt Ford will want to hear about this,” the boy thought out loud but when he tried to get up and pull his hand from the cold water, he noticed that he simply couldn't.

 

“What? I must be dreaming this,” Dipper muttered and tried to pull his hand out of the liquid once more only to find out once more that he was unable to do so. The surface had gone still once more and no matter how hard he tried to yank his hand free from the pool, he couldn't cause even a ripple. It was as if what ever passed through the surface of the water was stuck.

Dipper, who started taking deep breaths tried to stay calm picked up a small rock and threw it into the pond. It sunk into the darkness without any problem.

 

“Hah, I must be hallucinating things, no way in world this is real,” Dipper laughed nervously, trying to sound confident. Soon enough the small look of fear in the brunette’s eyes turned into one of pure terror when he realized that no matter what he tried, he couldn’t get his hand free. Dipper’s mind was now racing with different scenarios, all of them ending pretty horrendously,

The shadow demon behind him looked smug, tilting its head to the side in a mocking manner.

“Its ok Dipper, you are just having some horrible nightmare, right now you are sleeping in your own bed and Waddles is just licking your hand or something,” the boy tried to convince himself with little success.

_If I lose my balance and fall into the water, I wont be able to get out. I'll definitely drown!_ Dipper realized and tried to keep himself from hyperventilating. All the while the shadow was watching him like a predator, enjoying the distress Dipper was in as he started to realize what kind of a danger he was in.

“I have to call Ford,” the boy thought in panic and tried to reach into his backpack with one hand while attempting to make sure he didn't slip any more of his hand into that black pool of death.

 

Yet, the moment he moved to try and search for his radio, Mabel having the other, a black shadowy hand grasped hold of his wrist, the sharp nails digging painfully into his flesh

“What?” Dipper asked his eyes wide with terror and only now he could feel something behind him,

“ ** _This is an invitation Pine Tree, and you are going to accept it_** ,” the shadow monster behind him whispered against his ear, only to let out a familiar cackle.

Dipper could recognize that voice anymore.

It was Bill Cipher.

Before Dipper could do anything, the shadow leaned forward, pushing the boy head first into the dark pool of water with him. The pre-teen could feel his heart skip a beat when he saw the smooth black surface of the pond approach his vision, only to feel his whole body sinking into the pitch-black water.

It was so cold and dark in the water and he was being pulled deeper by some unseen force. It was as if the shadow demon was holding onto him, making him sink with it. Bill was dragging him down…drowning him in the darkness.

“No!” Dipper screamed in the water and tried to swim up towards the surface, but the cold murky water only filled his mouth and lungs, and no matter how hard he tried, he only kept sinking. Dipper saw the pale moonlight fade away as he sunk deeper into the cold water that soon enough didn't feel like liquid anymore. It felt as if he was falling into void, a space between his and whatever world lied at the bottom of this unnatural pool.

_I’m in trouble,_ Dipper thought when he saw golden eyes appear in the utter darkness, each and every one of them fixating on him in almost predatory manner, like he was entering Bill's hunting ground.

But, in some strange and unnatural manner, Dipper found himself flipping around in the darkness and before he knew it the demon had let go of him as well. The next thing Dipper knew, he came to the surface.

It really felt like he had fallen through the world to other side. Dipper gasped for air and pulled himself up from the water and onto the bank, coughing out some water while filling his lungs with air.

When he looked at the sky, he couldn't see clouds, stars or even a moon...just the blackness of the void and unnatural shapes and forms. The sky was filled with them….their eerie forms twisting and moving.

 

He really had entered another world.

 

 


	2. The New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper finds himself in the shadow world and tries to find a way back to the Mystery Shack, only to sense someone following him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh I was faster than I anticipated. I feel like the quality isn't as good as in the first chapter since this ended up longer than I thought it'd be.  
> So, I tried to make Bill resemble the monster a bit while keeping him still heavily humanoid like. I think I might have failed miserably. Kinda left a lot for the reader to fill in.

“This is not good, oooh boy...I'm screwed...” Dipper muttered as he eyed his surroundings while trying to calm down and catch his breath after the near drowning incident. The pre-teen's heart raced as he studied his surroundings, trying to figure out just what in the world had happened.

It was just so very odd. While everything in the area seemed familiar and recognizable, they just looked all wrong. The whole world felt darker and all the things around Dipper weredead, rotten, sick or just plain twisted. The air in the forest clearing was foggy and the boy could see dark spores hovering in the air, looking like something he shouldn't be breathing, but alas, he couldn't choose the air around him.

It felt like he couldn't get enough oxygen and after each deep inhale, Dipper just got more lightheaded and weak. It seemed almost as if the air of this strange dark world was...in lack for a better word, poisonous to humans.

Just moments ago he had almost drowned in that pitch black pool of water, dragged down by the shadowy form that had pushed him into it in the first place, and now this...

_What in the heck was that? I'm sure I heard Bill's voice but that just can't be possible.._

Although Dipper was now safely on the solid ground, he wasn't so sure anymore if this was the same Gravity Falls he knew.

 _Did I really get out of the pool?_ Dipper wondered and glanced over his shoulder at the small pond that was now reflecting the “night sky”, looking like normal water, if normal water looked putrid that is. It was completely undrinkable.

The young Pines boy swallowed slightly when he lifted his gaze up to face the night sky that was completely nightmarish. It was filled with shapes uncommon to his world and it looked as if the stars themselves were moving and dancing to their own tempo and tune. It was hard to tell with all the fog and perhaps a part of Dipper was happy that he couldn't see the insanity of the celestial bodies.

“What is this? Is this really Gravity Falls? None of my journals mention this kind of an occurrence, ” Dipper muttered quietly as he tried to make out the details in the fog. While his surroundings looked familiar, there was something horribly off about it all.

The whole world was darker than he recalled and the air was filled with fog. It was hard to see, but everything looked sickly, rotten or outright dead...hostile to life even. To Dipper it felt like he was the only living being there and really out of place. Everything was so other worldly that the Pines boy was still somewhat convinced that this was a dream and nothing more. But the sensations were so real that this simply couldn't be some lucid dream he was having.

The wind had died down once more, but somehow Dipper quickly go a feeling like wind had never even touched the trees of this realm; the air was just so stagnant and reeked of mold, making him feel ill.

“I have to head back home, Ford will know what to do,” Dipper muttered out loud but just when he was about to get up and head towards the direction of the Mystery Shack, he could see the shadows in the dense forest move. Someone had to be there, he could sense it.

 _What...what is that?_ Dipper thought and turned to face the forest, only for his heart to skip a beat and eyes widen in terror when he saw someone, or something, standing near the edge of the forest, looking at him.

He couldn't tell for sure but it looked like someone tall and thin was watching him from afar. The figure tilted its head and the Pines boy wasn't sure whether it was mocking, curious or a playful gesture.

“I need to get out of here and back to the Shack, Ford will know what to do,” Dipper told himself and stood up before turning around and heading swiftly towards the direction of the Mystery Shack.

Anxiousness gripped the boy's heart and mind when he turned his back to the shadow that was observing him. Dipper sped up his pace so that he got deeper into the woods, yet the nagging feeling of someone watching him refused to go away. Finally, he glanced over his shoulder while he could still see to the clearing, only to see a shadow move at leisurely pace among the trees and a hint of gold that glimmered in the darkness, but it was gone before he could get a better look.

 _Someone is following me,_ Dipper thought as he turned to face the direction he was headed in once more, _it couldn't be him, could it?_

As Dipper made his way through the dense forest, he could sense that shadow, no, the whole forest observe him, as if every tree had eyes on them.

Soon enough, the Pines boy started to feel as if the tall firs, birches and pine trees were caving in on him, trying to catch and stop him with their branches that scraped his clothes and skin slightly. More than once the pre-teen almost tripped over the snake like roots that covered the forest floor.

Now that he looked closer, everything was covered in those sickly looking vines and roots, and there were strange spores in the air that made breathing hard. He wanted to run but he felt weak and cold.

 _Maybe it is better to save my strength, the Shack isn't too far away,_ Dipper thought as he tried to keep his calm, convincing himself that this was merely a dream and nothing more.  _I want to see Mabel. Her bright personality alone would eradicate this darkness,_ Dipper mused, smiling slightly at the mental image of Mabel punching the trees with her bare hands.

“This is a nightmare, this is a nightmare,” the pre-teen kept repeating, wanting to already get back to Mystery Shack where his family was waiting for him Ford would know what to do. He always knew the right answer to everything.

Dipper held his head slightly when he was sure he could see something in the corner of his vision, something dark, and dangerous and it was hunting him.

“Go away,” he whispered, now able to hear the shadowy creature. Twigs kept snapping behind him as the thing that was following him came closer and closer.

The Pines boy stopped walking when the fear started to overwhelm him. He couldn't take a single step forward before he knew what was following him.

_Maybe it will be easier when I know who is following me....who knows, it could just be Robbie pulling off some prank. Yeah, that has to be it. It is him and Wendy and the rest just jesting._

As comforting as the thought might have been, Dipper knew that it was very unlikely to be the reality that right now as so cruel to him.

The monster behind him reached out with its black claw like hand, the long, almost spidery fingers about to touch the back of its prey's soft neck.

Finally after what felt like an eternity to Dipper, he turned around to face his pursuer.

Never in his life had the Pines boy been this scared. At first, his mind struggled to understand what he was staring at, but soon enough the cold, paralyzing sensation of fear took hold of his whole being. He had never fathomed to meet the dream demon like this or in a form like this.

He was facing a tall, lanky figure that had long and slender arms and legs with claw like hands. The monster's body was dusky grey, the legs and arms getting darker until they were almost pitch black. The demon's body was covered in golden triangles and marks that shone eerily in the darkness, as if they didn't fully belong in the darkness of this place.

“Bill?” Dipper asked all surprised and while his fear lessened slightly, thinking that this actually was just a dream, the cold feeling of dread he felt every time he dealt with the demon refused to fade away. _Oh this is a relief_ , _if he is here, then what I am experiencing has to be a dream! A very, VERY real like lucid dream._

Much to the boy's surprise, despite the monstrous form, the demon had quite handsome face, if it wasn't for the 3 golden eyes that all had a look of pure malice in them. The golden black hair mixed with the gold markings on his skin looked unearthly and eerily beautiful as they shone in the darkness in almost mesmerizing manner.

 

 _He is like an angler fish...attracting its prey with the light,_ Dipper thought as he stared at the demon who for some reason reminded him of a demon lord in DD &D that was banned in one edition of the game. The demon lord of insanity...or was it a god of dreams?

“Evening Pine Tree,” Bill greeted him with a grin, clearly enjoying the sight of Dipper gasping and taking few steps backwards, only to fall ungracefully onto the root covered forest floor.

“Oh, do you like this form so much that your legs go weak?” the golden haired demon cackled and smirked at Dipper so widely that all of his 3 eyes narrowed slightly. “Admit it, you like it. It is not every day I get to show a mortal this form.”

All the pre-teen could do was gawk at the demon who merely tilted his head slightly to the side with amused expression, his eyes shining maliciously in the darkness. The nightmare demon grinned slightly and placed his hands onto his narrow hips as waited for the boy's response with a smug and confident look.

“But....but you are a triangle!” Dipper, who was still all shocked, blurted out. The demon rolled all three of his eyes and flicked the boy's forehead with his spidery fingers, almost scratching the soft skin.

“Do you honestly think people would make deals with me if I looked like this?” Bill inquired with a chuckle. Despite having a handsome and human like facial features, the slender, shadowy and somewhat monstrous form would definitely scare some people.

“I must be dreaming,” Dipper muttered as he stared at Bill. “If I am seeing you, then I must be sleeping, right? Don't tell me I've fallen asleep during the DD&D game?”

 _This is just too surreal, even for Gravity Falls_ , the boy thought as he tried to come up with answers while the demon observed him all amused. _M_ _aybe there was something magical in the snacks I ate with the gnomes, something that is giving me just horrible nightmares. I mean, if I'm seeing Bill, then this naturally has to be a dream._

Dipper scrambled up onto his feet only to feel slightly lightheaded.

“Oh humans, you have no idea just how hilarious it is to watch you try and decide whether this is real or not” the demon cackled with a playful look in his golden eyes. “But I assure you kiddo, this is all real. So, if you think you can slap yourself awake or something else as stupid as that, it won't work.”

Just to make sure the demon wasn't lying, Dipper pinched himself a couple of times with no result.

 

“Where am I? What exactly is this place, Bill?” the boy inquired, desiring to have some answers from the demon. He had no idea what Bill wanted, but whatever it was, Dipper knew it couldn't be good.

 _If he tries to make a deal with me again, I won't fall for it....Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,_ the boy thought,

“Well, lets just say that this is a crossroads of a sort,” the tall demon explained.  “A mixture of both your and my realms. It took a lot from me to create this and bring you here,” Bill continued, his eyes now shining with mirth and schadenfreude.

 _Crossroads? Then there has to be way back home_.

Dipper started to feel uncomfortable this close to Bill and took few steps back, but the demon merely closed the gap between them with one single step, looming over him in very threatening manner, that smirk never leaving his lips

 

The brunette boy held his breath when the dream demon reached out for him to caress the side of his face, “my, so warm and soft,” the demon mused with a smirk. ”You'd fit right in with my pals and I. I bet they'd love you. Sixer might be a real freak but I think we can turn you into one too, I mean, you already are weirdos with Shooting Star.”

The knowledge of this being all real and that Bill had a physical body in this place set alarm bells ringing in the Pines boy's head.

The cruel, almost possessive smile on the demon's lips and the intense and malicious look in those beautiful golden eyes nailed Dipper on the spot and he was unable to look away. The sensation of Bill's sharp nailed and spidery fingers touching his cheek made his heart skip a beat; he had never felt this nervous or scared in his life.

“You know Pine Tree, you are pretty cute when you are scared,” the demon laughed softly

He slapped the demon's hand away and tried to look defiant. Seeing Bill in a dream as a triangle wasn't that scary but here...he was tall shadowy demon. And if what he had said about them both being here as physical beings was the truth, and it certainly seemed like it...he could very well be in danger.

“Touchy,” Bill chuckled with a knowing smile. Clearly they both had mutual understanding who was in control in this situation. Bill was playing clearly with him.

“Why did you bring me here?” The brunette boy demanded, starting to feel worried. Bill had deliberately brought him here so he had to want something from him, “I'm not going to make any deals with you if that's what you want, Bill.”

 _I have to get back somehow,_ Dipper thought furiously, wanting to leave Bill's company already and head back towards the Shack, but it wasn't that easy.

Bill grinned in sinister manner and suddenly took hold of Dipper's face with both hands, his thumbs caressing the soft skin as he leaned closer and forced his prey to look into those 3 golden eyes. The boy struggled slightly but the demon's hold was strong enough to almost hurt him.

“Oh, I didn't bring you here to make a deal with you. I want to **deal** with you, permanently preferably.”

“Are you going to kill me?” Dipper demanded and could feel Bill's sharp nails dig into his soft skin slightly as the demon stared at him with possessive and malicious look in those golden eyes of his, like he might want to devour his mind.

“Well, to be honest at first with was one choice, but I've grown quite fond of you Pine Tree, watching you has been hilarious, so I much rather keep you,” the demon purred with dreamy look in his eyes. “Besides having you as a leverage against Ford and the rest would be useful,” Bill cackled and forced Dipper to look into his mesmerizing eyes that shone eerily in the darkness. “I'm really intrigued by you, Pine Tree. I really want to keep you and take you to my world permanently, so that you can't go back.”

Bill's hands felt so cold and Dipper couldn't help but shiver. The mere idea of him being taken into Bill's world was...horrific.

“Keep me?”

“Why yes, you can't imagine the agony Sixer will feel when he learns that you are trapped in my realm for all eternity,” The demon laughed and trailed his hands down to Dipper's shoulders, grasping it. “He will spend the rest of his days blaming himself for letting you fall right into my grasp,” the demon almost purred, his grin wide, sadistic, malicious and possessive. “But you don't need to worry, Pine Tree...you won't feel any of those feelings.”

 _I have to get out of here now,_ Dipper panicked, _if I let him take me, I'll never see Mabel again._

“Would you like it? Staying with me?” Bill asked, running his thumb over Dipper's lips. “Because...I'd very much like you to stay with me,” he continued with dreamy look in those golden eyes of his.

Dipper could feel his heart race and he felt lightheaded, weak and scared, yet he couldn't tear his gaze from those mesmerizing 3 oculi that promised him many horrible things.

“Shall we go then, Pine Tree? Be a good little guest and accept my invitation. I'm sure you'll come to like it after a couple of decades,” the demon cackled and took a firm grip of Dipper's arm, about to drag him off deeper into the woods with him.

The boy peered into the direction the demon was dragging him off to and all he could see was never ending darkness and it looked as if the trees became more and more gnarled, twisted, rotten and sick. The forest would swallow them whole.

“No! Let go of me Bill! I'm not going anywhere with you!” The Pines boy yelled and tried to get out of the demon's hold as he started to drag him off to god knows where.

 _I can't let him take me! There has to be a way to return to the real world from this crossroads,_ Dipper thought desperately as he was forced to take few steps forward with the demon.

“Help me!” Dipper shouted into the dark, sickly looking woods but no one heard him, if anything, taking deep and panicked breaths of the poisonous air made him feel light headed and weak.

The dream demon cackled and his voice echoed slightly in the woods,  
“Who are you calling for? There is no one there,” Bill purred. “No one can help you...and they won't ever find out what happened to you. There are no evidence of you ending up in here Pine Tree,” Bill continued and Dipper's eyes widened in terror. All color drained from the boy's face when he realized that Bill spoke the truth.

The golden-black haired otherworldly being leaned downwards and whispered against Dipper's ear,

“There is no need to be afraid, Pine Tree, I'd never hurt you. I don't like my pets broken,” the tall demon chuckled maliciously. “Not right away at least.”

 _Ford...help me,_ Dipper pleaded in his mind and lost all strength in his legs, coughing violently as the poisonous air started to affect him. Bill snickered slightly with dreamy look in his half-lidded eyes and let go of Dipper's arm when the boy fell onto the forest floor, too weak and shocked to move.

“Poor thing, this realm is not meant for you...not yet,” Bill whispered as he crouched down and picked Dipper up in bridal style, trying not to hurt the boy with his dark claw like hands. The Pines boy tried to resist but it was all in vain. The demo was simply too strong and held him tightly against his form.

“Cute, fight all you want Pine Tree, I'm taking you either way. You can either make it easy on yourself or not,” the golden haired demon purred and nuzzled the boy's forehead as he carried him in his arms deeper into the dark, twisted and sick woods.

 

As they made their way through the woods, Dipper lost his sense of direction completely and the deeper they got, more dark it became around them. The air was thin and the dark spores made breathing hard...meanwhile Bill didn't seem to have any trouble. It almost felt like being this close to the otherworldly being made it only worse.

 _I have to get away from Bill,_ Dipper thought, _I can't just give up. Mabel wouldn't. Mabel,_ the thought of never seeing his sister again made Dipper feel desperate and hopeless. _She would spend the rest of her life trying to find me. I have to get back to her._

“That's a good kid, Pine Tree,” Bill almost purred maliciously as the boy lost more strength and went limp in the his embrace. Dipper was too weak to break free from Bill's hold. “You'll like it there, I promise. I'll be your friend and play with you. You won't even remember your family after a while.

 

Suddenly Dipper remembered that he had a swiss army knife in his pocket and reached out to grab it, trying to make it so that the demon wouldn't notice. It was a pitiful effort, but in order to see Mabel again he'd be ready to try anything. Thankfully, and somewhat miraculously, Bill didn't...he was to self absorbed in his smugness and victory to pay any attention.

And thus, when Dipper reached out to put his arms around the demon's neck, as if to hug and cling onto him, the demon's expression turned even more sinister and overconfident, thinking that Dipper had given up.

“Oh? So affectionate already...I'll have to give you a proper treat for this, Pine Tree,” the demon cackled, thinking that Dipper was merely scared and sought comfort. “I'll take good care of you.”

 

Violence was not something he liked to resort to, and not in a million years would he have dreamed of doing something like this, but he'd have to do this in order to see Mabel and his family again. Ending up in Bill's world would be an end he didn't want.

_If I don't get out of Bill's hold now, I'm done for. I'll never see Mabel again...so I have to do this._

He pulled the blade out and struck it as hard as he could into the demon's shoulder.

Bill's golden eyes widened slightly when he felt the blade sink into his flesh, and it took a brief moment for the demon's brains to register what had happened.  
Suddenly, the demon let out a terrifying shriek of anger and agony when the pain from having the blade dig into his flesh hit him. Dipper watched how black, almost tar like blood started to bleed from the wound and around the blade.

The dusky grey skinned demon with golden markings on his skin dropped the boy onto the dark, root covered forest floor and reached to yank the blade free, eying it with scornful and loathing expression before letting it drop onto the forest floor as well.

During that time, Dipper had scrambled up onto his feet and was backing away from the demon, trying to regain his strength and stay focused on getting away from the demon.

 

Bill stared at his hand that was coated in his own dark blood, only to slowly turn his golden eyes to Dipper. The boy could feel his heart start to race when a sinister grin slowly formed on the demon's face, making truly murderous.

“That was a nasty trick, Pine Tree,” the demon purred as the dark blood dripped down his back and onto the forest floor from his hand. However, he didn't seem fazed by the wound at all, “and here I thought you'd come nice and quietly with me like a good boy you are.”

 

Dipper took in few deep breaths as he backed away from Bill. The blade had been pitifully short and the only reason he had done any real damage to the demon was because of the element of surprise, but now he had lost that too.

“I'm not going anywhere with you Bill...tell me how to get back home,” the boy demanded with widen eyes but the demon merely sneered at him. "Tell me there is a way...please, I will return to Mabel and my Grunkles.”

“After that little stunt you pulled off? Ooh no, I'm not telling you anything, Pine Tree,” the demon chuckled and started approaching Dipper once more. ”Believe me...it will be easier for you if you come with me now without a fight, I will even forgive that nasty trick,” the golden-black haired man persuaded Dipper,

“I will show you things no mortal could dream of, isn't that what you want, Pine Tree? To see the secrets the universe can offer? What I offer here is tenfold you could ever learn in Gravity Falls,” the demon offered, trying to tempt the boy to give himself to him. Or at least distract him long enough to grab him. “You won't need to face the boredom of normal life ever again.”

Dipper felt cold sweat form on his forehead as he backed away from the demon who was advancing towards him in predatory manner, his black claw like hand with spidery fingers reaching out for him,

“You can either follow me willingly...or I can drag your screaming form with me...which one will it be, Pine Tree?”

“I will never go anywhere with you, Bill! I'm going to find a way back to Gravity Falls and to my sister and Grunkles, and you can't stop me!” Dipper yelled furiously at the demon who sneered slightly at him, clearly surprised how much willpower and strength his captive still had.

With that, the boy turned on his heels and dashed aimlessly away from Bill, trying to find the town, Mystery Shack or anything...any other living soul who could help him.

 _They can't all be gone, I can't be trapped here alone with Bill_ , The boy thought in panic as he ran away.

The demon looked slightly shocked when the boy dashed away from him, believing Dipper to be too weak to try and run, but his blood thirsty grin returned when he realized that the hunt was on.

“Where are you going Pine Tree? There is no one out there to help you!” Bill cackled and yelled after Dipper before starting to slowly, but surely follow him. ”Its just us here! I'll find you eventually and when I do I'll take you with me for sure!”

 

Dipper could hear Bill's sinister cackle echo slightly in the dark forest as he dashed away from the demon, desperately trying to find someone who could help him.

The dense forest hindered Dippers movements but he kept running despite feeling sick, weak and tired.

After what seemed like an eternity, he saw the town emerge from behind the trees. For a moment, Dipper felt like everything was going to be ok, that he'd get refuge from some family or his friends.

But...as he ran along the streets, he soon realized that the town was absolutely empty with not a single living soul there.

Dipper finally fell onto his knees and tried to catch his breath in the world that was hostile to him in every way. Slowly but surely, the soul crushing desperation, fear and hopelessness started to creep into his heart.

The demon had spoken the truth.

 

_I'm all alone in this place with him._

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will probably focus on Ford and the rest. Thanks for taking the time to read this :) Come say 'hi' to me over at http://jastral.tumblr.com/  
> I'd love to pick some suggestions for stories ect.


	3. The Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper tries to find a place to hide in the dead town. The Pines family slowly realizes that Dipper has not returned home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter is not very good. I couldn't decide whether I should taker Route A or B when Dipper is in the town. Eventually I just mashed those two together into this abomination. So some of Dipper's choices might not seem very logical...  
> Edit: also, tons of mistakes. Sorry English isn't my native language :´(

 

"I can't be all alone in here, I just can't. That's simply impossible," Dipper whispered in disbelief as he swiftly made his way through the town, trying to look for someone to help him, to hide him from the demon that was pursuing him. Yet he couldn't find anyone Gravity Falls, the small, warm and friendly town that had turned into a nightmarish hunting grounds for the dark demon with golden markings all over his body.

The town was outright dead without a single living soul inhabiting the houses that were so covered in black mold and vines that they were on the verge of falling apart. It looked as if everything had fallen into decay with death being the master of this realm. There were no lights in the windows and the fog made it hard to see more than 10 meters ahead of him. The almost smog like mist engulfed the buildings and it looked as if there were shadows moving in there.

Never in his life had Dipper felt this terrified or alone and he had to struggle to keep himself moving. Sure, he was a resourceful and headstrong kid but he was facing now a demon who only had one thing in his mind; dragging him into whatever horrendous realm he came from.

 _If this is a mix of both our realms, I don't want to see what Bill's home reality is like,_ Dipper thought and could hear the demon behind him.

The monster wasn't running, oh no, Bill was strolling along the streets at leisure pace and taking his time since he knew he had all the time in the world and that Dipper would eventually be too sick and weak to escape him. This was all just a game to him while to Dipper it was a matter of life and death.

The shadows shifted and moved in an unsettling way and Dipper was sure that his heart had never raced this fast. To him, it looked as if the buildings and trees had eyes on them, hungrily watching his every move in mocking manner, like he was a rat trapped in a maze.

"You do know how it ends eventually, don't you Pine Tree?” Dipper could hear Bill yell some distance behind him, the demon's voice echoing eerily in the dead town.

”You are mere mortal playing against a god. You'll starve and eventually become too weak to even move,” the demon gloated gleefully. “Is that what you want? To suffer in this place and starve? You’ll just postpone the inevitable. Be a good boy and come here and I'll show you the beauty of this world.. Give yourself to me and you'll avoid all suffering. There is no need to be scared....you won't have to worry about death or anything. You'll live forever with me in my world, able to see and learn everything."

 

“Shut up Bill, I will never give myself to you. I won't let you take me,” Dipper hissed quietly and tried his best to hold his breath in order not to take in too much of the vile and poisonous air that sapped his strength, but failed miserably. For a moment he could take short breaths, but eventually Dipper had to start gasping for air since it was so thin.

A sense of dread took root in Dipper's mind as each gasp of breath he took filled his lungs with that stagnant, poisonous and dark spore filled air that was slowly weakening him and turning him into an easy prey for Bill who was clearly enjoying every moment of this.

The boy took turns and took paths between the houses in hopes of eluding the demon and soon enough, he couldn't hear or see the dark demon anymore.

When he was passing the town church, Dipper had to stop walking and support himself against the wooden buildings when the poisonous air made him start coughing. He desperately tried to muffle the sounds by placing a hand over his mouth. Last thing he wanted was for Bill to hear him now that the demon had lost him.

 _If this place is really a crossroads, it means that Bill can return to his world and I should be able to return to mine_ , Dipper pondered as he managed to catch his breath, feeling desperation settle in. _B_ _ut w_ _hat happens when I'm too weak to move? I wouldn't be able to do anything when Bill finds me._

Ahead of him, Dipper saw Greasy's Diner. It looked empty, abandoned and dark, but perhaps he could find a hiding place in there.

 _Or maybe there isn't a way back home and he is just messing with me. This was a trap in the first place._ The thought was unpleasant and most likely true.

The young Pines boy looked over his shoulder when he heard soft chuckle echo slightly in the area, belonging to none other than Cipher. The demon had clearly lost him but was still looking.

“Pine Tree~” the demon almost purred in sing song tone. “It's not like I want to devour your soul or anything. I just want to own it.”

Dipper peered into the fog and his heart skipped a beat when he saw a glimmer of gold in the darkness which could only mean that Bill was there, looking for him. For a brief moment, the pte-teen held his breath when Bill stopped, but much to his relief, the demon headed into wrong direction.

The coast to the diner was clear for now.

Dipper was sure that he'd never forget the sensation of Bill carrying him into the darkness, how the cold and dark shadows of the dense forest seemed to get deeper, engulfing and licking his form.

 _I can't let him catch me,_ Dipper thought as he entered the yard of the diner only to trip over a gnarled rotten root and fall against a car. For a second, the Pines boy feared that the alarm of the car would go off and alert Bill to his location, but thankfully the car was just as dead as everything else in this world.

“Well that was lucky,” Dipper muttered as he climbed the stairs up to the door. Speaking of luck, Dipper knew that he had been lucky when he had managed to escape the demon in the first place, but he would eventually run out of that resource.

Yes the demon was overconfident and full of himself, but Bill didn't make a same mistake twice. The element of surprise was gone and now the demon was hunting for him without mercy. The moment Bill caught him, it would be over.

Dipper tried the front door, but it was locked,

"No, damn it," the boy muttered only to look around himself to make sure the demon had not heard him. Fortunately he couldn't see the glimmer of gold anywhere in the fog.

“There has to be a way inside,” the boy muttered as he moved over to a window and tried to force it open. Miraculously, the window creaked open with few hard yanks and Dipper pulled himself inside the diner.

"Hello, is anyone here?" Dipper asked quietly, a part of him hoping that the inside of the diner would be warm and welcoming, just the way he remembered it, and that this horrible reality was just some illusion cast by Bill. But when Dipper saw that the diner was just as dead and decayed as rest of the town, he understood that there was no safe haven in this world, that everything was hostile towards him.

 _I don't want to know what kind of a monster I have to become to be able to call a place like this home_ , Dipper thought, recalling Bill's cruel words about making him part of this all.

During the summer, he and Mabel along with everyone else had spent so much time in the wonderful diner, sharing ideas, memories and conversations that would shape his coming teen years for sure.

Now the place was dark and the wooden floor boards were cracked with roots forcing their way through the gaps, making the place look ghastly. The air felt even worse and more oppressing inside the building and it made Dipper cough slightly and feel dizzy, disoriented even.

Dipper slowly walked through the diner.

One glance at food and ingredients was enough to tell him that nothing was edible or usable in this realm. All food items were completely putrid and covered in mold; so decayed that they had turned black. Nothing could be preserved in this world that was filled with death and darkness.

 

Hopelessness took over Dipper mind as he moved over to a one of the tables, crawling beneath it and resting against the wall. He might be a pre-teen, but right now he felt more like a scared kid and it made him even more terrified. He was on the verge of young adulthood and this encounter with Bill had reduced him back into being a scared kid. He was a child up against a demon who wanted him.

He really was all alone and it would be only a matter of time before the demon would find him.

 _I always knew not to trust Bill and that he was a demon wanting to cause havoc but this.._.Dipper thought as he shivered, _is just nightmarish_.

 _But I can't just give up, there has to be a way to contact Mabel, Ford and the rest, I just have to use my brains,_ the boy reasoned as he took of his backpack and started to go through his items.

The first thing his hand found was the DD&D game, but it wouldn't be much of a help with the demon. Throwing the 20 sided dice at Bill would only make him laugh his head off, which might actually stall him for a moment now that he thought about it.

“Aha! I got myself a...sandwich?” Dipper said out loud when he pulled out his packed lunch that he had forgotten all about. The gnomes always had such delicious magical treats that Grunkle Stan's sandwich always was forgotten in his backpack.

“Well at least I won't starve to death in here...” Dipper laughed slightly nervously, his expression turning blank and serious, “right away at least.”

Yet, when he glanced at the plastic wrapped meal, Dipper could witness how the bread, meat and sloppily cut vegetables decayed in front of his eyes at rapid pace.

The boy dropped the rotten food and kicked it away from him with horrified expression, his heart racing fast. This place was nightmarish and he wanted nothing more than to wake up.

Dipper emptied his whole backpack onto the wooden floor and threw away everything unusable, leaving him only with his wallet, DD&D game, journal, compass, a map, flashlight and the radio. Mabel had the other one and Dipper hoped that it would reach his sister.

With slightly trembling hands, Dipper picked up the radio and pushed the button. A part of him was actually afraid to even try it, not wanting the failure to be an option he had to face.

”Mabel, are you there?” he asked in quiet voice, listening carefully to his surroundings, fearing that Bill was outside. ”Mabel?”

when all Dipper got was static, the boy let his hand fall and the radio hit the ground, bouncing once before falling onto its side. The young boy hugged his legs and huddled against the wall beneath the table,

”Help me. I don't want to be here.”

* * *

 

It was truly astonishing how Dipper's disappearance had gone unnoticed by everyone in Mystery Shack till the late morning. Mabel, Stanford and Stanley had all been blissfully oblivious to the horrors Dipper had faced and the danger he was in now, being hunted by the demon who wanted to drag him into his reality and perhaps even devour his soul, despite saying otherwise.

Stanford had spent his night going through his old research notes till the early hours of the morning while Stanley had fallen asleep in his lazy boy watching baby fights marathon, of course missing who had become the grand master because he had fallen asleep before the climax of the season.

And of course there was Mabel who had actually been waiting for Dipper's return, only to be distracted by a phone call session with Candy and fallen asleep with one of her boy magazines over her head.  
And thus, the 3 Pines family members slept peacefully unaware of the nightmare Dipper was facing, and of the nightmare they'd find themselves in when they'd wake up.

Mabel yawned loudly when the warm rays of the morning sun hit her face, gently awakening the girl from her slumber. The magazine that had blocked the sun had fallen off Mabel's face and was now slightly covered in her drool

"Noooo, sun go away," the young girl complained and tried to turn to get rid of the sun that refused to go anywhere, eventually forcing Mabel to get up into sitting position and rub her eyes.

"Dipper? You up yet?" the brunette girl asked all drowsily and turned her head only to see an empty bed.

Usually after one of the late night games with his gnome friends, Dipper slept late, avoiding getting up until Grunkle Stan came to kick him out of the bed. Now however it seemed that her twin was already long gone,

"Dipper's up already? That's not possible," Mabel wondered out loud but then smiled happily. “Must be working on another dungeon for his new friends. I'm so glad he can play that game with someone who is into it. ”

Mabel's eyes fixated on the door when she heard steps coming up the stairs. For a moment she wondered if it was her brother, only to see her pet pig waddle through the doorway and towards her now that she finally was awake,

"Waddles! Where's Dipper?" Mabel asked and giggled slightly as she pet Waddle's head. The piglet just tilted its head slightly to the side and oinked in confusion.

  
"Mabel! Dipper, breakfast!" Grunkle Stan's voice carried up from downstairs, making Mabel quickly jump out of the bed and put on her sweater before rushing downstairs with the pig on her heels.

Mabel entered the kitchen to see Ford setting the table with his twin brother, for once getting along just fine.

"Oh oh, please tell me we have pancakes!" Mabel asked, jumping slightly in excitement, her eyes bright and shining with happiness. “I'd die for some right now.”

"Of course, pumpkin, but you better not feed them to that pig, its fat enough as it is," Grunkle Stan grumbled as the pre teen took a seat.

The warm morning sun shone through the window, casting a soft warm hue over the room, making it feel serene and almost dream like. Mabel just knew that this was going to be one of the mornings she'd remember for the rest of her life, along with her brother. With all the insanity and weirdness in Gravity Falls, it was nice to just sit down and enjoy a moment together with the family.

"This is wonderful," Mabel chimed while petting Waddles who had sat down next to her on the floor in hopes of getting pancakes and some petting from his owner. "A beautiful summer day, wonderful breakfast and two sets of twins solving the mysteries of Gravity Falls,” Mabel laughed and could see Ford actually smile at her. She and Ford didn't share the same bond as him and Dipper, but she felt like they were getting more close each passing day.

“I hope Dipper is ready to help me with that play I'm doing with Candy and Grenda. He better not run off to play that game with his new friends today," the girl laughed but it was all in good fun. “Then again I think it will be ok.”

It was good to see her brother getting some new friends who shared his interest. Who knows, maybe he'd get new pen palls. She had like 20 at this point.

"I'm sure he is," Ford chuckled as he sat down, only to look around,. "Actually, where is Dipper?"

"Don't tell me he didn't wake up?" Stanley asked, stabbing the pancake on his plate repeatedly, sounding extremely grumpy for some reason. Must have been the fact that he missed the season finale.

"Awww, you sound awfully grumpy for a beautiful day like this, Grunkle Stan, did you fall asleep while watching Baby Fights and now your back hurts?" Mabel asked in a teasing tone, making her grunkle slightly flustered and look away all angrily, too proud to admit anything.

"What, no! That's absurd!"

While Stanley was looking away, Mabel sneaked Waddles a piece of a pancake and raised her index finger to her lips to signal Ford to keep quiet about it.  
"Dipper! I'm going to eat all your pancakes if you don't' hurry up!" Mabel yelled and the 3 of them waited for a moment, but they could hear a single sound or foot step inside the house.

“Maybe he is writing another story for his friends outside?” Ford suggested with ponderous look in his eyes and fixed his eye glasses a bit.

Mabel could feel how a hint of worry crossed her mind,

"Dipper?! It is breakfast time," she yelled again in slightly more worrying tone and before Stan or Ford could say anything, Mabel hurried off to look for her brother. Minutes passed and the brothers could see Mabel run outside, pass through the kitchen, rush to upstairs and then back down and take the elevator behind the vending machine down, then back up before finally returning to the kitchen.

"Did....did any of you actually see him return last night?" the brunette girl asked all worried, fear evident in her eyes.

They all knew that Dipper had to take a path through the magical forest and it wasn't exactly completely safe place. Sure the boy knew the path and had his journal with him, but there were many dangerous creatures in the forest.

The adults shared looks of worry and confusion, indicating that neither of them had actually seen Dipper since yesterday. Mabel focused on Ford when for a brief second, he seemed to get actually scared look in his eyes, as if an idea he dreaded had crossed his mind.

"No, I was buried in my research last night," Ford sighed and admitted that he had not been a very good caretaker.

"And I fell asleep around 1 am," Stanley added, "which is when Dipper should have been back here."

“In short, no one of us has seen Dipper or knows where he is,” Ford muttered, saying what everyone was thinking.

"Wh..where could he be? What if he got lost in the forest or or..." Mabel tried but it didn't make much sense. Dipper knew the forest well and the path from the gnome village to Mystery Shack was a familiar one to them. He wouldn't just get lost.

"Calm down Mabel, I'm sure your brother is fine," Ford stepped in and got up from the table, walking over to Mabel who looked uncharacteristically worried.

"I'm sure Dipper spent the night with his new friends. Wouldn't be a surprise if he just lost the sense of time and thought it would be best to stay over there;" Ford reassured Mabel and placed his hand onto her shoulder reassuringly, but to the young girl it looked as if the scientist was trying to solve something in the depths of his mind.

"I mean, I can't count the times the DD&D games I had in my youth ended around 2 or 3 am," Ford chuckled. "Man my parents were angry with me."  
"Yeah, Fordy here always ended up staying over at his group of nerds he played with," Stanley pointed out with a smile. The two adults were clearly trying their best to reassure Mabel that everything was alright and this was merely a big misunderstanding.

"Ok," Mabel sighed, unsure what she should do or how to feel. This wasn't like Dipper. Sure her brother could lose the track of time when he lost himself in some mystery book or game, but he always came home, even if a bit late.

"Why don't you take Grenda and Candy and go see the gnomes and pick up your brother? I wouldn't be surprise if they have started another game already."

"That's a good idea, Grunkle Ford," Mabel said and a smile managed to return to her face.

_I'm probably worrying for nothing. Dipper is probably just excited to have new friends he can play with._

 

The moment Mabel left the room, her breakfast forgotten on the table, Ford rushed outside as well and towards his study, followed by Stanley.

"What are you doing Ford?" the conman asked as Ford punched in the code to enter the elevator behind the vending machine.

"I need to go through some celestial charts and leyline maps just to make sure that something I suspect can't possibly have happened," Ford said and to Stanley, it sounded as if the other man wished, nay, prayed that what he was suspecting wasn't true.

“Mind explaining some of this to me?” Stanley demanded, looking slightly angry. He might not understand all the stuff his brother did but he at-least wanted to know what to expect. If his nephew was in trouble, he wanted to know about it.

"Listen Stanley, just to be safe, I think you should check the town while Mabel visits the gnomes with Grenda and Candy."

"Fine Ford, I'll ask around the village, though I'm pretty sure Dipper is just playing with those gnomes," the fez wearing man muttered.

"I certainly hope so."

 

Mabel's mind was in turmoil as she entered her and Dipper's room. This all was just so not like her brother at all.

Waddles sat on the floor and watched how the girl quickly packed her backpack and called Grenda and Candy, telling them to meet her outside the Mystery Shack in 30 minutes.

Just when she was about to be finished, the brunette girl noticed the radio on the night table and picked it up. It was the way she and Dipper had kept in contact when they were separated within Gravity Falls. Mabel pushed the button,

“Dipper?” she asked but all she received was static.

"Figures, he must be outside the range," Mabel muttered as she put it inside her backpack. "I'm going to give Dipper such a scolding that he won't soon forget it," Mabel whispered, not liking the way her twin was making her worry one bit.

 

* * *

 

Dipper stared at the dark and moldy wooden floor before him with eyes that had lost some of their shine.

The hunger was getting worse each passing hour, but then again he couldn't really tell what time it was since the world was wrapped in never ending darkness that was suffocating and oppressing. Every clock in this strange realm was dead and telling the passage of time was next to impossible.

Had it been hours? Days? Hell, he didn't even know if the night had passed or if this world even had time. Had any time passed in his own world?

 _It is so cold in here,_ Dipper thought and shivered, wishing that he was in his own warm bed or basking in the warm summer sun. He felt absolutely miserable, yet he didn't know what to do.

Knowing that the demon was lurking somewhere outside the diner made him want to just stay put and hide underneath the table, but, if he did that, he'd become only weaker and weaker, yet acting without any plan was risky

Despite trying not to, Dipper's mind was constantly drawn to ponder what Bill would do to him if he caught him.

A part of him was tempted to try and talk this through with the demon, to seek a way to negotiate a way back home, but it was clear that Bill was not here for that. He was remorseless and cruel creature whose only desire was to take and claim his mind and soul completely, to cause pain to his family, especially Ford.

 _The way Bill held me while carrying me into the darkness_ , Dipper thought, still able to feel those long limbs holding him in possessive manner. _His touch was so cold and weakening_. There had been something very intimate about it, obsessive even, and it made it all the more scarier.

The nightmare demon had brought him into this world for one reason only, to capture and take him into his dark world. There was nothing else Bill wanted, so he couldn't be negotiated with.

"Maybe I should head back to Mystery Shack and try to contact Ford somehow?" Dipper muttered and it certainly seemed like the perfect option, but he also knew that the demon undoubtedly was observing the Shack and since it was in middle of nowhere, once there it could be hard to escape if Bill followed him.

The nightmare demon seemed to have eyes everywhere and Dipper could be certain that he held some control over this realm.

The pre teen huddled into the corner and tried to warm himself up somehow. He had no idea what he should do. His journal said nothing about a world like this, but then again, he wasn't sure if Grunkle Ford would want to write about something as horrifying as this.

* * *

 

"So strange that your brother has gnome friends," Candy pointed out as the three girls entered the gnome village and headed towards the house of one of the players. Many of the small creatures came to watch the 3 girls out of curiosity. Not many humans found their way into the village and those who did, usually had some business there

"Well my brother is like a moth to a flame when it comes to supernatural stuff and when he finds a group of nerdy gnomes playing DD&D...well, the only natural conclusion is that he loses him self into the game," Mabel laughed, having regained her usually happy look, “though I'm a bit worried they might get tempted to try out that infinity sided dice.”

Grenda and Candy had been great support, telling her that boys were like this and that Dipper was 100% going to be with the gnomes,

"But I'm glad he is making some new pals, I can't be the only one who gets to make such great friends this summer."

 

Grenda knocked hard on the door of the house and soon enough a young looking gnomes opened the door. They were wearing some props and had clearly been playing the game, but whether her brother was with them or not remained to be seen.

"Oh, hey Mabel!" a gnome with a short black beard said and despite the look, he sounded very young. “We are playing some DD&D.”

"I can see that, you twerps. Is my brother hiding inside?” Mabel said with her hands on her hips. While the whole “queen” thing was behind them, she still held some dislike towards the gnomes,

“He forgot to return home last night and we are here to pick him up, " Candy chimed in.

"Yeah, Dipper made Mabel worry," Grenda noted.

 

All of the young gnomes had come to the door and were now sharing looks of utter confusion with each other. "What on earth do you mean Mabel?"

The girl blinked a couple of times and looked at Candy and Grenda who looked just as surprised,

"I mean...my brother stayed here last night, right?” Mabel asked, clearly worried now, “your game took longer than anticipated and Dipper decided to stay over? Isn't that what happened?"

The gnomes looked baffled,

"No, no Mabel, we escorted Dipper to the edge of the village and he took off into the woods about half an hour before the deadline. Are you saying he didn't return back home last night ?"

Mabel's expression turns slowly into one of fear and worry, _this can't be real. My brother would never go missing._

"This, this can't be possible, Dipper is not home and if he isn't here...wait a minute...how do I know you haven't kidnapped him!?" Mabel asked, clearly grasping at straws. “You wanted to make him your GM king or something...”

The gnomes gave her an unimpressed look and rolled their eyes, clearly offended,

“Please Mabel, if we had kidnapped your brother, we would already be playing DD&D with him as our GM, not Schmebulock here whose narration is a bit hard to follow at times. Dipper is like the best game master we have," the gnomes stated only to add with an offended look. “And he is our friend.”

“Schmebulock....” a gnome holding a GM screen said and looked slightly sad.

“No no its, ok, just describe things in a bit more detail,” his friend said and Mabel was starting to get impatient.

“Hello? Can we get back to the question at hand here? My brother is missing!” the brunette girl almost yelled at the gnomes, panic starting to take hold of her heart and mind.

“Right, sorry Mabel but he is not here. Last thing we know is that he left the village.”

 

"But..but that would mean my brother really is missing and we have no idea where he is. He didn't return home and if he isn't here, where could he be?" Mabel demanded but to her frustration, the gnomes couldn't give her an answer. No one could

"Maybe he is in the town?" Grenda suggested and Candy was quickly to nod to reassure her friend, yet their expressions gave away how they truly felt.

The gnomes whispered to each other a bit, clearly worried.,

"Mabel, Dipper is our friend too and we want to help. How about we look in the forest while you humans check the town?" the gnomes suggested and Mabel could feel her eyes getting moist. If the gnomes were worrying for her brother and had no idea where he was, something was certainly wrong.

“Thank you. I just want to find my brother.”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I noticed that this chapter got out of hand. Needs to be shorter and more focused!!


	4. The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole town is looking for Dipper while the young Pines boy tries to look for a way back to his own world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit weaker chapter here to set the pieces on the game board where I want them to be. Longer too.

 

 

“Dipper?! Where are you?”

“Dipper Pines!”

“Bro bro!” the young girl's voice pierced the silence of the forest, but no matter how hard or loud she called out for her twin, the young Pines boy remained missing. There simply were no clues of Dipper's whereabouts no matter how hard everyone looked for them. It was as if he had just vanished.

Mabel wasn't exactly sure how she had managed to hold herself together the whole day, and it felt each passing hour without her brother was more horrible than the previous one.

 _Where could he be? My brother can't just have disappeared into another world?_ Mabel thought as she climbed over a fallen tree trunk, her eyes scanning the area and the moss covered forest floor, wishing that there was a piece of cloth, or Dipper's backpack....or anything to tell them what had happened.

 

Many of the towns folk were looking for the young Pines boy in the town, but a small search party consisting of random villagers, Stanley, Soos, the sheriff and deputy, along with Wendy with her family and friends had ventured deeper into the woods to look for Dipper in case he had gotten lost in the vast forest that spread around the town. The young Pines boy had now been missing the whole day and the approaching night made every one worried.

Gravity Falls was a small town where everyone knew everyone; a place one could feel safe and welcomed in, thus a missing kid was a grave matter and one everyone sought to solve. The whole town knew the mystery twins and it didn't take much convincing from the sheriff and the town to believe them. They knew, that someone like Dipper didn't just run away and Gravity Falls was way too small to get lost in.

It was truly amazing and wonderful how quickly the town had mobilized with the sheriff and Pines family in lead. The quick actions had made Mabel feel better and suddenly Stanley's reassuring words had felt like they were true, that they'd certainly find Dipper. However, now that the the day was nearing its end with not a single clue or hint, the relief she had felt when everyone had started searching for Dipper was quickly fading away and being replaced by fear.

“Hey Dipper! Where are you? This ain't cool!” Wendy yelled, hoping it would get her friend to appear somehow, but the only answer she got was in form of more yells from other members of the search team.

Hell, even Robbie had come to help in their search. And even if he said that he did it only because of Wendy, Mabel could tell that he wanted to help.

“Hey twerp!” the black haired teen called Dipper,”it is getting dark. Kid's like you should get back home!”

Like they had promised, the gnomes too had formed a search party consisting of many kinds of supernatural beings, all looking for their friend in places no normal villager could go in or find, but alas, none of the gnomes had found Dipper either. The gnomes her brother played DD&D with came to give her a report on their findings every 2 hours, but each time they had come empty handed.

Probably the only persons in the town who had not lifted a finger to help them were Gideon's family along with the North Wests, but what else could you expect of them?

 

“Bro-Bro! I'll get mad if you don't appear right now!”” Mabel called out for her brother and even though she tried to mask it with playfulness, desperation was becoming more and more evident in her tone as the sun started to slowly fall towards the edge of the horizon and behind the tall trees that cast their looming shadows over the land.

Within hours it would become dark and the search team would have to head back to the town and their homes to regain energy for the coming day. As the remaining minutes of daylight became scarce, the hopelessness started to take root in everyone's mind. Something like just didn't happen in Gravity Falls.

 

The shadows became longer and deeper and the evening sun cast its red hue over the land and trees, making the forest look at the same time incredibly beautiful and sad. There was no way Mabel could enjoy the scenery at a time like this, and if anything, the beauty that heralded the coming night made her feel scared and lonely.

 _My brother is lost somewhere and he has to spend another night all alone_ , Mabel thought and hugged herself, feeling completely heartbroken and scared for Dipper. Even though it was summer, fading sun light made the air cooler and the young girl shivered even with her sweater on. She didn't notice Wendy approaching her with a sad expression on his face, looking as if she didn't really want to talk to Dipper's sister because of what she'd have to say.

“Hey Mabel,” The started girl said with a weary sigh, clearly exhausted both physically and emotionally.

Mabel lifted her gaze from the moss covered forest floor to meet her friend's sad gaze.

 _Oh no, even Wendy looks misera_ ble, the Pines girl thought and tried somehow to hide her worry behind a positive and happy smile, but one could tell that the expression was forced.

“It is getting pretty late,” the red head sighed and looked over at the search group who were starting to head home. “I think most people are calling it a night.”  
Mabel's expression became startled and she turned her gaze hopelessly to the towns folk who all looked apologetic as they headed back towards Gravity Falls. Wendy's friends had gathered into one group and looked somewhat impatient, wanting to head out of the dark woods already. Tambry was pointing at her cellphone that had ran out of battery.

“And looks like Tambry has ran out of power too,” Wendy muttered somewhat jokingly, clearly wishing it could lighten up the grim mood.

“But my brother is still missing! We can't just give up when it gets a little bit dark!” Mabel almost yelled and Wendy had to fight to keep herself from becoming too emotional. She was supposed to be all cool and older, more mature.

“I know and I'm sorry Mabel, but you don't realize how dark these woods will become once the sun sets completely. There is a danger more people would get lost,” the red head explained to the younger girl who was clearly starting to get teary eyed.

“I don't want my brother to spend another night alone somewhere! I want him to come home,” Mabel stated her selfish side taking over. She knew that people needed rest, and that the town had done more than anyone could hope for, but that didn't stop her from wanting everyone to continue the search until Dipper was safely at home.

But as much as everyone wanted to help and bring Dipper back home, normal life had to go on and the town run. Tomorrow they'd start the search anew and hopefully they'd have better luck.

“Hey Mabel, your brother is the most clever kid I've ever met, I'm sure he is alright and that we will find him tomorrow, ok? Besides, he has that journal, so he knows how to deal with things if something comes up,” Wendy said with a reassuring smile before turning around and heading back towards the town with Robbie and the rest. “Tomorrow is a new day.”

Soon enough, Candy and Grenda too came to tell her how sorry they were and that they had to head back home, and that she should do the same.

The sweater wearing girl turned slowly around so that she didn't have to look at her friends' receding backs and kicked a stone angrily, wanting to take her frustration out on something, but the pebble merely landed on a soft green moss bed and lied there as if taunting her.

Something caught Mabel's attention as a warm summer breeze pushed against her small form, as if wishing her to move somewhere.

Mabel fixed a straw of her brown hair behind her ear as she gazed into the woods. Now that the sun was setting, the shadows were getting deeper, longer and darker. It looked as if they were moving, licking and coiling around the tall pine and fir trees, ready to snap them in half.

To Mabel, it almost seemed as if the shadows formed a path for her to follow, tempting her to follow them deeper into the woods.

For a moment, the pre-teen watched the shadows all mesmerized, wondering if they could lead her to Dipper. But, just when she was about to take a step forward and follow those dancing shadows that beckoned her to walk deeper into them maws if the woods, her uncles' angry voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

“So, you are telling me that your nephew went into the forest during night around 1 am and didn't come back?” The sheriff asked from Stanley who looked extremely awkward, clearly not feeling comfortable being questioned by a representative of law, even if he hadn't done anything bad. If anything Sheriff Blubs and deputy Durland were there to help them, but being a conman, Stanley was having hard time answering any questions.

“Yes, that is right, sheriff, there is no way Dipper was visiting gnomes something” Stanley said, sounding incredibly stiff, making the Sheriff and deputy look at each other in confusion.

“Now, what kind of a responsible caretaker would let a 12 year old kid venture into the woods?” the sheriff asked.

“Hey! I'm a good caretaker until proven guilty...I mean wrong,” Stanley got on defense, as if he had been accused of a heinous crime. “You know how kids are these days, always seeking adventure. Take Mabel over there for an example,” the fez wearing man said and pointed at the young girl. ”She has this crazy wish to have a perfect summer romance.”

“Now that is pre-teen like,” the Sheriff agreed and took few more notes into his notebook. “You have a point there.”

Mabel ran to Stanley to save the situation, if left unchecked, her great uncle could easily do some serious damage. He was charismatic sure, but he also was like a hurricane that wrecked everything in its way through misplaced words.

“Grunkle Stan! What I told you was confidential!” she yelled and before addressing the police officers,

“Please Sheriff,” Mabel started, putting her charm and charisma to the max. “Dipper just went outside when he couldn't endure my chatting with Candy.”

“And none of you noticed him to be missing until this morning?” the sheriff asked. Sure they had asked a lot of things before starting the search, but now that the day was at its end, they'd have to ask few more details from events prior to Dipper's disappearance.

“No, I fell asleep in front of the television watching Baby Fights,” Stanley admitted and looked ashamed and worried.

“We drew the map about the area Dipper is allowed to venture to,” Mabel added. They had mapped an area extending from the Shack to the magical gnome forest; supposedly being the area the twins were allowed to venture to from the Mystery Shack by themselves.

The problem was that they couldn't simply say, _“oh Dipper was with his gnome friends playing DD &D and somehow didn't make it back home._” No, that would have been insane and made them all extremely suspicious.

While the society of the Blind Eye had been dealt with, the run ins with the magical creatures were still so rare that outright telling about meeting some gnome was out of question.

For now, all the Pines family could say was that Dipper had just went out for a while in middle of the night and disappeared. While it was not the most convincing thing...thankfully both the sheriff and deputy Durland were somewhat naive. Besides, how could anything bad happen in Gravity Falls? It was simply an impossibility.

“Looks like everyone's heading back to the town,” Deputy Durland noted and Mabel started panicked,

“Surely it isn't too dark yet, please we can't stop looking for my brother! He...he could be hurt and starving!”

The Sheriff looked apologetic, just like everyone else.

“I'm sorry Ms.Pines, but we all need to gather our strength, you included.”

 

* * *

 

By the time everyone was walking back towards the town, the whole forest had become dark, the orange hued sun finally almost completely beyond the horizon. The mosquitoes started to appear and the air became more humid.

Mabel slowed down her walking pace until she stopped completely to take off her backpack to pull out the black radio. Dipper had the other one and she had insisted that he'd carry it everywhere he went so that they could support each other no matter where they were.

She had tried contacting her brother numerous times during the day with no results, but maybe this time was different. Mabel held her breath for few seconds, bracing herself before pressing the button to transmit,

“Dipper? Are you there?” the pre-teen asked and listened closely, but to her disappointment, all she received was static and silence. Either Dipper was out of reach or he didn't have the radio on. “Bro-bro, please answer me,” Mabel tried once more, her voice almost cracking but no answer came. “If you are lost in these woods... give me some short message or word...anything.”

Mabel, who had now fallen behind the group completely, barely noticed the creeping darkness or the shadows that slowly reached towards her, as if trying to crawl onto her back and whisper horrible things to the pre-teen, to taunt and torment her.

But, the long and oppressing shadows disappeared the moment Stanley turned to Mabel. The aging conman had noticed that his grand niece had purposely fallen behind, probably hoping that by staying a while longer, she'd find her twin.

“Pumpkin, I know you want to find your brother. We all do,” Stanley said in his gruff voice and scratched the back of his head as he walked over to Mabel who put the radio back into her bag.

The girl wiped her eyes onto her pink sweater's sleeve and gave the graying man a sad look,

“I'm sorry Grunkle Stan, but right now it just doesn't feel like it,” the young girl said, sobbing slightly as the tears trickled down her cheeks. To her, it felt like everyone was abandoning her brother.

“I know, Mabel,” Stanley replied with a weary sigh, not liking the situation any more than the girl before him.

The pre-teen couldn't help but let out a small sniffle and sob,

“Where could Dipper have gone to?” she asked hopelessly. “What...what if something bad happens to him and no one is looking for him?”

Stanley knelt down onto Mabel's level and placed his heavy hand onto her shoulder with a small kind and reassuring smile on his usually so grumpy face,

“I'm sure we will find Dipper tomorrow,” the fez wearing man assured her and the feeling of his warm hand on Mabel's shoulder seemed to calm the girl down a bit. “You know, you look like you could use something to eat. You have to make sure you got the energy to continue the search tomorrow. It doesn't serve anyone's interest if you exhaust yourself completely,” Stanley told her and Mabel nodded as she managed to get a hold of herself and calm down.

It was hard for Stanley to see Mabel like this. The girl was almost never sad and it was absolutely heartbreaking to witness his grand niece cry like this. But what could you expect? Her brother was missing and no one knew where he could have gone.

 _I know Dipper wouldn't want me to cry, but I just can't help it_ , Mabel thought as she wiped her warm tears away once more into her sleeve.

It was the uncertainty that was the worst. With no clues to her brother's whereabouts, one could only wonder what had happened to him, and with a vivid and creative imagination, Mabel could easily conjure up many possibilities, most of them bad.

“Why don't we go to the diner and eat before we return to the Mystery Shack to see what Ford has dug up? That way, you'll be ready to start anew tomorrow;” Stanley suggested and Mabel nodded.

“I'd like that, Grunkle Stan.”

 

* * *

 

The atmosphere was more than gloomy inside the Greasy's Diner that was about to be closed for the night. The young girl and the aging conman sat in one of the booths close to the exit. The sun had now disappeared completely and the warm light had been replaced by darkness and white mist that gathered around the trees making the forest look eerie and scary. Mabel gazed out the window and as she peered into the mist filled forest, she had no trouble imagining the deep woods swallow up a person, never letting them leave.

The traditional diner was pretty much empty at this hour with only few evening shift workers grabbing something to eat before heading back to their homes. Lazy Susan was running the place on her own and no one was really striking up conversation with others, after all the news of Dipper's disappearance had spread liked wild fire. No one was feeling cheerful.

Mabel, who was sitting in a corner booth with her grunkle, cast her slightly red eyes onto the table before her, not really wanting to look at anyone in her current state.

 _I've never felt like this,_ Mabel thought and blinked a couple of times as she explored her feelings. These miserable, scared and outright terrified feelings she was having were foreign and something she didn't know how to handle. Sure, horror movies and clay-motion monsters scared her, but this was _**real**_. The dread she felt for Dipper was paralyzing and suffocating.

“I know you are the last person I should tell to cheer up now Mabel,” her Grunkle started all awkwardly, “but I need you to stay strong and optimistic here kiddo. For Dipper's sake,” Stanley said as Lazy Susan brought Mabel some pancakes.

“On the house sweetie,” the waitress said and Mabel managed to give her a smile with a quiet,

“Thank you.”

The greying man watched how his grand niece picked up a fork and poked the somewhat fluiffy pancake absentmindedly, her thoughts clearly wandering to her twin brother.

“Tell you what, I'll go chat with the other customers to see if they've seen anything,” Grunkle Stan said before getting up and heading over to the counter to chat with some late night customers to see if they had heard or seen anything. He could see that Mabel wanted to be alone for a moment.

 

The female twin took few bites of the pancakes that usually tasted so delicious that the mere idea of getting them made her mouth water. Now however, the treat tasted like cardboard or ash to her and she just couldn't enjoy it. She forced down a couple of bites before pushing the plate slightly away from her.

How can I eat something like this when Dipper could be starving? Mabel thought, her gaze shifting to the radio phone on the table.

_It couldn't hurt to try to contact Dipper again. Maybe he simply was beyond the reach?_

The brunette girl picked up the radiophone and ran her thumb across the button. For a moment, she hesitated, only to press the button to transmit.

“Dipper?” she asked, wishing, nay, praying that the radio waves would somehow reach her brother wherever he was, “Hey, I wonder if this stupid thing even works, but I just want to talk to you, Bro-Bro. Please, just return to the Mystery Shack,” Mabel whispered her voice almost failing her.

“And if...if...” the pre-teen hesitated, not wanting to think of the possibility, but even if no one said it, everyone knew that it existed,

”if someone has taken you...whoever you are, please return him to me. I just want Dipper to return safely home,” the girl finished, placing the radio back onto the table while wiping her tears away.

“Give him back to me.”

 

* * *

 

Dipper lied motionlessly on the diner's floor, hiding beneath one of the many tables.

The young Pines boy had tried looking for a way out in the village, some portal or clue to spirit him out of this nightmarish purgatory realm, but he had returned empty handed. There was absolutely nothing usable to be found in the rotten buildings and he had managed to avoid Bill's gaze just barely. The hunger and thirst were becoming unbearable and he felt sick from the cold and the poisonous air that was slowly preparing him for the demon to just pick up and carry into the darkness.

It was hard to stay awake and all the boy wanted was to close his eyes and fall into deep slumber, but that'd make him an easy prey for the demon who had sensed him moving in the village, taunting and mocking him even if he had not spotted him directly.

A small part of Dipper had actually been tempted when Bill had offered to make a deal with him to end this game so that he wouldn't lose too much, and it made the boy scared.

 _It was so close that I didn't just fall for his lies,_ Dipper thought as he recalled how he had hidden behind a corner of a house, listening to Bill's words that rolled off his silver tongue, persuading him in malicious tone.

“ _ **Come out, come out where ever you are, Pine tree~ There is no absolutely point prolonging your suffering in this world. Soon enough you'll walk this darkness with same comfort as I,**_ the demon had cackled in malicious tone. _ **If you are a good kid, I'll show you the mysteries of the world. I'm sure that will soothe the pain you feel from knowing that you'll never see your family again,”**_   Bill had said in sing song tone. The mere possibility of Bill taking away the memories of his family so that he wouldn't feel sad because he wouldn't know any better was terrifying.

There was nothing out there but death and the demon who offered a life worse than it, but it'd be still life. Bill's words were like poisonous roots coiling around his heart and mind in this dangerous world.

“What should I do,” Dipper asked quietly, not wanting to give into Bill, but dying in a nightmarish place like this scared him even more. The idea of never seeing Mabel, Grunkle Stanley, Ford or his parents again was paralyzing and the idea of spending the rest of his life in Bill's nightmarish world made him tremble.

“I don't want him to take me,” Dipper murmured as he hoisted himself into a sitting position, coughing slightly.

Suddenly, the radio in his backpack went on and he could hear someone talking through the loud static. Dipper's widen eyes shifted to stare at his backpack and he acted before he even thought of his actions. The pale boy dived for his backpack and pulled the black radio phone out with trembling hands. He could hear a girl's voice, his sister's to be more precise.

“Mabel?” the pre-teen boy asked, his voice filled with desperation mixed with hope.

The message was faint and full of static but he could be sure that Mabel was calling his name.

“ _ **Dipper...please...return to Mystery Shack,”**_ Dipper could hear his sister's voice that was breaking. She was clearly on the verge of starting to cry.

“Mabel?! Is that you? It's me! Dipper! I'm inside the diner,” he said desperately, but got no answer other than static. The signal was too weak to reach the other side, but Mystery Shack was Bill proofed...would it remain so even in this world? Perhaps it could weaken Bill's power enough for the signal to reach Ford and his sister.

 _If I can contact Mabel in the Mystery Shack,_ then I can contact Ford, Dipper thought hopefully. _H_ _e'll know what to do._

 

_I have to make it to the Shack, even if Bill corners me. Ford will get me out of here._

 

* * *

 

Bill sat on the pedestal of the founder of the Gravity Falls in the center of the town with all of his eyes closed and with a cruel and smug smile on his face. The shadows moved on the ground like snakes and the air felt even more oppressive around the tall nightmare demon who was the master of this pocket realm.

He could feel Dipper's presence in the town that was completely dead without a single sound.

“I wonder when will you give up, Pine Tree?” Bill mused as he enjoyed the moment, knowing that the his little prey was somewhere in the nightmarish town trying to find a way back home, even if it was next to impossible.

The golden markings on his body glowed eerily, as if to mesmerize those with weaker minds, beckoning them to approach the demon.

“Not that I wouldn't like watching your expression as I approach your body that is too weak to move, “ the demon chuckled sinisterly, opening his eyes to eye his surroundings. “I bet it would be a wonderful sight to behold.”

The only person who could help the boy now was Sixer, but even if the old man learned what had happened, there was no way Bill would let the boy escape him. After their first run in inside his great uncle's mind, Bill had taken a great interest in the kid and after the hilarity of Mabel's sock opera, he had decided to keep the boy. There was no way he'd let him leave Gravity Falls and the only way to ensure that was to drag Dipper into his world and bound him in it forever.

“You are rat in a maze I created for you Pine Tree,” the demon murmured with smug look in his golden eyes, “and all the paths lead to me.”

Seeing Dipper slowly break down and fall into despair, knowing that only one fate awaited him, was exhilarating.

There was nothing more thrilling or satisfying to the nightmare demon than watching Pine Tree thrash and fight with all his might to find a way back home, only to slowly realize that there was no one to save him from this nightmare and that the only comfort or safety he'd get was if he gave himself up and behaved.

“Your desperation is so wonderful, Pine Tree, I could live on it,” the demon with golden eyes purred, knowing that the boy had to be freezing and growing sicker due to the poisonous and hostile environment. The human pre-teen had felt so warm and soft in his arms and the demon couldn't wait to make Dipper part of his world. The darkness would coil around his body, mind and soul until he'd succumb to it completely, becoming the demon's property.

 _I want to see the look on your face when you lose the game, Pine Tree, it will be hilarious_ , the demon thought with a wide grin on his face. .He wanted to see the boy's expression when he'd gaze at the red and black skies and see the horrors his world could offer. Given time, Dipper would learn to love the madness of his realm. He'd show the kid what mysteries lied beyond the waking world and in time they'd both break into the human world to have fun.

“It is a shame your sister won't see you fall,” the demon sighed and the golden markings on his skin glowed eerily.

He had tried luring Mabel away earlier in the forest, but bringing Dipper here had drained him too much. The cruel demon could't help but gaze into the darkness with dreamy look in his eyes as he thought about bringing Shooting Star here as well, only to leave her wander this realm. It would break his little Pine Tree.

He could feel Dipper move in the town. His presence had shifted.

Bill smiled as he stood up, and looked into the direction of the Mystery Shack, knowing that the boy was heading towards it.

“I guess it is time to end this little game, Pine Tree,” the nightmare demon said in mocking manner.

He wanted to tear the boy from his family and watch that headstrong and clever demeanor fall apart, revealing a scared kid on the verge of his teen years. Pine Tree would beg for a way back home that he wouldn't grant and in the end he'd be holding that trembling warm form in his embrace.

“Time to take you to your new home, Pine Tree.”

 

* * *

 

“We'll find him tomorrow Mabel, I promise,” Stanley said as the two of them walked through the forest path back towards the Mystery Shack. The young girl had insisted on visiting the gnomes before heading back home to make sure they had not found him either and much to her misery, the magical folk hadn't found any clues either.

“I just worry so much, Grunkle Stan,” Mabel whispered, feeling the trees with her hands, her finger tips tracing over the details of the brown, almost red hued bark. “I just...the idea of Dipper being lost in the woods...it is just..,” Mabel started but couldn't find the words.

“Hey sweetheart, your brother has his journal, there is nothing Dipper can't face. Sure, he might be a big nerd, but if he is anything like Ford, he'll manage,” Stanley reassured his great niece who looked like she wished to dash into the woods and look for Dipper.

“Yeah, I know Grunkle Stan,” Mabel sighed and blinked in surprise when she actually saw Ford ahead of them, standing on the banks of the small pond close to the Shack.

“Grunkle Ford?” The young pines girl asked when the two reached the researcher who was looking into the pool of water with a look of disbelief mixed with terror in his eyes. In his hand, Ford had some old map that depicted cycles of various pieces of the celestial objects, along with leylines of power that ran across the town and the region around it.

“Have you found something brother?” Stanley asked when Ford ignored Mabel, clearly lost in his thoughts. Hearing his brother's worried voice made the other twin snap out of it and glance at both of them with confused look.

Mabel could feel the terrible feeling of fear get a stronger hold of her mind when Stanford let his gaze fall to meet hers. He looked as if he had to tell about a death of a loved one or something as bad....or worse.

“Mabel, Dipper is...”But just when he was about to tell the news, the eye glass wearing man noticed the black walkie talkie in Mabel's hand. His eyes fixated on it and the young girl could see how the dozens of ideas and thoughts started to race through Ford's mind at the same time.

“Did your brother have his radio with him last night?” the researcher demanded urgently, making Mabel flinch slightly before lifting the black radio a bit in unsure manner,

“Yeah, I think so. We always carry these in our back packs so that we can contact each other.”

The look of sadness and grief turned into a hopeful one and before Mabel could say anything, the researcher grabbed the phone and started rushing towards the Mystery Shack with the two on his heels.

“Ford wait up!” Stanley yelled but his brother was in too much of a hurry to explain anything.

Once inside the shack, the researcher dashed into the kitchen and started tinkering with the radio phone, ignoring the two who tried to get some answers from him.

When he was done, Stanford turned it on and placed on the table with awaiting look in his eyes.

“Where is Dipper?” Mabel demanded to know.

Ford picked up a game board he and Dipper had used earlier and turned it around so that the black side showed. The aging researcher tapped the smooth cardboard surface,

“Right here.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, Bill is giving me such a hard time here. I want him to be more monstrous since the monster in stranger things is well...monstrous. Thanks for taking the time to read this :)


	5. Into the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper tries to make it to Mystery Shack but Bill is closing in on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *hits head against the desk* Whyyyyyy.....I can't get the end of this chapter to be what I want it to be. Their interactions are lame. Also, what happened to 2K words or less...I'm despicable!

 

 

 _I'm almost there, just few more hundred meters and I'll reach Mystery Shack,_ Dipper thought desperately as he ran as fast as he could through the dark and dead forest, trying to be the best of his ability to avoid the demon who was somewhere in the area, hunting him with a single desire; to capture him and take him into that nightmarish realm he came from. Once there, it would be next to impossible to return home, not without Bill allowing it.

 

In his hand, the pre teen held the black walkie talkie radio that mostly gave static, yet, among the noise he could every now and then hear his sister's and grunkles' voices. He just knew, that the black radio was the key to his salvation, a way for him to contact his loved ones and get help. It was hard to make out any words among the static, but they were clearly discussing something together in worried tone and every now and then, Dipper could hear his name being mentioned and it gave him some hope.

 _Perhaps they've figured out something and know what to do,_ Dipper reasoned, even if he was grasping at straws _, I just have to reach the Mystery Shack and Great uncle Ford will pull me from this nightmarish world_. _He wont let Bill take me._

The young Pines boy had tried calling his sister for help multiple times, hoping that the radio waves would carry his voice to the real world, but no matter how hard he tried by adjusting the settings etc., he just couldn't get any response, even if the static was gradually fading as he got closer to the Mystery Shack that hid behind the dark and twisted forest.

Dipper's theory, well, more like desperate hope was that the ward Ford had created around the Shack to Bill proof it would also be in effect in this strange crossroads world, at least partially, dampening the demon's hold in the area enough for the radio signals to reach the other side.

 _I wonder where he is_ , Dipper thought with anxiety gripping his young heart, it is too quiet, _he has to be somewhere around here, looking for me_. The boy looked around himself as he pushed few larger branches out of his way.

He had not seen Bill anywhere in the town and it made him wonder if the golden eyed demon had gotten bored with him, leaving him to die in this cold, dark and dead world all alone.

The young Pines boy had managed to slip safely from the town into the dense and rotten forest where the gnarled black trees reached for the sky....sky that was like a window to Bill's world with dancing lights and shapes that reminded Dipper of mad Aurora Borealis, one that could usher its beholder into madness.

“Just a little bit further and I'll be there Mabel,” Dipper whispered hopefully into the radio but received nothing but static. The dark woods around him were dead silent with the only sounds piercing that silence being his foots steps, breathing and the occasional twig that snapped in two beneath his feet, along with the static from his radio.

He knew that Bill was out there somewhere, and the fact that he couldn't hear anything made the boy's mind race.

The pre-teen hugged himself slightly and pulled the collar of his blue vest up when the air started to turn colder and getting more dense with the poisonous spores that he was forced to breathe in, each inhale leaving him weaker and more hopeless.

Never in his life had Dipper felt this scared. He was feeling cold and almost feverish with the hunger and thirst serving as constant reminders of his own mortality, of how easily he'd die. If he failed now, Bill would catch him and he'd never see his family again.

Suddenly, a violent cough fit hit the young Pines boy.

Not now, Dipper thought desperately as he stopped walking and leaned against a tall sickly looking tree that was covered in vines and dark moss. At first, the young boy managed to support himself against the thick tree trunk, only to soon find his legs giving out underneath him without a warning.

Dipper slumped ungracefully down onto the cold fores floor, curling up slightly against the tree as all he could do was cough and gasp for air that only made things worse. The boy had gone pale and his eyes had lost their shine and at few points of his coughing episode, he felt like he was about to pass out due to the lack of oxygen

For a few fleeting seconds, the thought of giving up and letting Bill take him just to end this crossed his mind, feeling almost tempting.

 _Stop thinking of something like that Dipper!_ The brunette boy thought, trying to get a hold of himself and stand up, _I can't let that happen, else I won't see Mabel ever again._ That had been Dipper's only thought for a while now and it had given him the strength and will power to look for a way home. But, now that he lied there on the verge of blacking out, his determination faltered.

Each breath of the poisonous and spore filled air Dipper took made him feel disgusted to his core. There was something absolutely terrifying about knowing how he could do nothing but endure and wait as what shreds of energy and strength he had left were slowly being stripped away from him.

Dipper's grip on the walkie talkie tightened as he lied on the cold, root covered ground coughing.

"Ford help me," he whispered quietly while holding the button to transmit but as expected, no answer came. The pre teen's whole body shook and it felt as if he was coughing his lungs out, “Please, you always know what to do.”

The forest that had previously been dead silent, suddenly echoed with the demon's laughter that sent shivers down Dipper's pine.

 **"I see you, Pine Tree~"** Dipper could hear the demon's voice call him, only now realizing that the trees all had eyes on them, staring at his weakened and scared form, **"don't run from me. Do you really think your family can help you? Not even Sixer can save you from me,”** Bill cackled, his tone both mirthful and malicious,

“ **Now, be a good little kid Pine Tree and just follow me into the nightmare realm. After all, I've got everything ready for you."**

"Leave me alone, Cipher. I'm not going anywhere with you," the pre teen replied weakly as he scrambled up onto his feet, trying desperately to get the damn cough fit under control by taking deep and calm breaths.

Thankfully, the episode passed and Dipper dashed towards the Mystery Shack the moment he felt like his legs could carry him, all the while holding the walkie talkie like it was his most prized possession.

“Mabel, Ford, Grunkle Stanley, someone please help me,” Dipper almost pleaded as he ran towards his destination that lied just beyond the edge of the woods. Yet, for some reason the sickly and gnarled shadowy forest seemed to become more dense and dark each passing second, as if trying to actively block his way.

“ **I'm going to enjoy watching you become my puppet again, Pine Tree,”** Bill laughed and jeered at him from the distance, clearly loving every moment of this, **“I want to see you break in my realm, knowing you'll never see your loved ones or friends again. But that's ok, I'll keep you company~** ”

“I'm almost there,” Dipper whispered, trying to block Bill's cruel voice from his mind, not wanting to hear what the demon was going to do to him.

“ **You won't have anyone else so you'll do everything I say, won't you?”**

 

The twisted and black tree branches kept hitting Dipper's body painfully as he made his way forward in the darkness, struggling to escape the demon who was getting closer and closer by the second.

It almost felt as if the thin branches were razor sharp teeth, that kept grazing over his neck and arms with a thirst to bite him in twine, while the vines sought to coil around his neck in order to deprive him completely from the air that was already hurting him. They wanted to strangle him into either death or submission.

A small whimper of pain escaped Dipper's lips when one tree branch scratched his arm painfully and left behind a small cut that started bleeding. The sensation of the warm blood on his cool skin felt horrible and sickening, making the boy hasten his step. He desired nothing more than to escape this world and return back home, to real Gravity Falls that was warm and full of life.

 _Mabel, first I'm going to hug you as tightly as I can,_ Dipper thought, almost tripping over a root in his path, _I won't leave you. Nothing can separate us._

 

 

It really felt like the forest itself was trying to stop him, to subdue him for Bill to just pick up and take with him into the darkness.

For several fleeting seconds the pre teen actually felt relieved when he saw the Mystery Shack peeking from behind the black trees. Its windows were dark and it looked as if the whole building was about to fall apart, but it was still the Mystery Shack alright.

 _I'm going to make it and Ford will know what to do_ , Dipper thought and actually managed a small smile as his feet carried his exhausted and feverish body forward with sheer determination.

But, whatever relief and happiness Dipper had felt disappeared the moment his escape came to a sudden halt.

Dipper's heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened in terror when his foot hit a gnarled black root in his path. The sudden impact sent him flying a good distance forward in the darkness before hitting the cold ground underneath him. The painful landing sent dead leaves, needles and pine cones scattered around him and it knocked all air from Dipper's lungs, leaving him coughing and gasping for the poisonous air.

The black walkie talkie flew from Dipper's hand and landed some distance away from his.

The landing wasn't a gentle one and it made the radio bounce around a couple of times on the root covered ground before finally settling on a mat of dead and moldy leaves and pine needles. The sound and sight of the delicate piece of equipment getting such a harsh treatment left Dipper paralyzed by fear. That device was his only way to contact his family. If it got broken, he could just as well give up and let Bill take him, that was for certain.

 _Please don't be broken,_ _please don't be broken_ , Dipper pleaded in his mind repeatedly, not wanting the demon to catch him.

The Pines boy grit his teeth in pain and his body ached all over, lungs burning with need to cough even if it didn't help at all. Yet, somehow Dipper managed to push the pain aside. He was so close to home that he had no time to focus on this.

He could endure this.

"What the....?" the pre teen asked when he tried to get up, only to find himself unable. The almost feverish looking boy glanced behind him, only for his horror to realize that he had not tripped on something, something had _**tripped**_ him on purpose and was now holding onto his leg, not wanting him to go.

The sickly black root he had hit had coiled itself around his ankle and was holding him still. Dipper's eyes widened in terror when the root tightened around his ankle, as if it was alive and sought to prevent him from escaping.

 

The boy's blood ran cold and his mind started racing with different thoughts and possibilities, all of them horrifying.

"No!" Dipper let out panicked and tried yell to tear the sickly root from around his ankle, the effort draining his already faded strength immensely.

 _Let go of me_ , the brunette boy thought desperately as he tried to get his leg free from the root's hold that was becoming painfully tight now, “I don't want this! Let me go home!”

As Dipper worked on the grasping root, he glanced up every now and then to see if Bill was coming. His heart was racing and the anxiety was overwhelming his body and mind, making him hyperventilate....his hands trembling due to the growing panic.

Cold sweat formed on Dipper's pale skin and his heart skipped a beat when he heard foot steps and could finally see the soft golden hued light in the darkness of the forest, one that belonged to none other than the dream demon.

Usually any light source in a place like this would have been welcomed, even comforting, but, this golden and mesmerizing glow caused pure, unfiltered panic in Dipper. It promised only emotional pain and becoming Bill's property; a fate Dipper sought to avoid to the best of his ability.

He could hear the demon's heavy foot steps in the forest and the twigs that snapped in half beneath his feet.

 _I'm not going to be his puppet again_ , Dipper thought and could feel his fingers starting to hurt, yet he ignored the pain. A little physical suffering was nothing compared to the terror he'd face if Bill managed to catch him.

“Leave me alone Bill! ” the formerly so headstrong boy almost pleaded, as he tried to tear and pull the root from around his ankle. .

How had things turned out like this? As much as Dipper wanted to deny it, he was still young, barely more than a child. To be put in a situation like this was horrifying and the knowledge that there was no one to help him was outright paralyzing. There was only the demon who had brought him, a creature who was merely playing and toying with him, prolonging his torment. Bill was going to make it so that he'd never ever see his family again.

A loud gasp of relief escaped Dipper's lips when finally he managed to get his leg free from the root's hold.

Dipper tried to scramble forwards and lunge towards the radio in order to grab it and continue his way towards the Mystery Shack. His body felt so weak, feverish and sluggish that he wasn't sure if his legs would carry him.

“Don't be afraid Pine Tree,” Bill, who was now very close, said in mocking tone, “this will be fun for both of us. I promise you that. There is a whole new world waiting for you. So, don't try to run from me, it won't do you any good.”

Dipper looked over his shoulder and could see the demon's slightly staggering tall form and the golden hued markings glow in the darkness, the three golden eyes burning with malice, playfulness and possessiveness.

Before the pre teen could utter a word, more withered vines and roots lashed out at him like snakes, coiling around his legs and arms to prevent him from moving anywhere. The dead forest itself was attacking him and doing Bill's bidding. The radio was only about a foot away from Dipper but he just couldn't reach it no matter how hard he tried.

 _No no no, I want to get back home. Ford, Mabel...Grunkle Stan don't let him take me!_ Dipper thought and grit his teeth as the roots tightened their hold on him to the point it became painful, making sure that he wouldn't be going anywhere unless Bill wanted it.

The look in Dipper's eyes was that of a wild animal, one that had been cornered and knew that death was close. The boy was practically hyperventilating and his heart racing faster than ever before.

The dead and dark forest floor felt cold against his feverish body, and the forest's scent was that of death and decay. The various sensations made Dipper feel nauseous and scared, reminding him of his own mortality and fragility in this dark world.

He was probably only thing that was warm in this insane and dark dimension that was leeching his strength and warmth, slowly destroying him.

.

Dipper let out a small whimper of fear when he heard heavy steps and twigs snapping behind him in foreboding manner.  
The nightmare demon was approaching him at a leisure pace, clearly enjoying the sight and reveling in the fact that he had won. The wide grin on his face was proof enough. Bill was taking everything out of this and loving it. It was as if he was feeding off the fear his little victim was experiencing.

The tall shadowy demon chuckled maliciously and stopped next to Dipper who was still wriggling desperately. One glance at the boy told the demon that Dipper had reached his limit and didn't have any more strength left in him.

Those malicious golden eyes narrowed dangerously and the demon just watched the boy before him for a moment, enjoying the sight of Dipper's struggles slowly dying down until he finally gave up and just lied there breathing quickly with widen eyes. He was almost hyperventilating.

The Pines boy's eyes reflected the pure fear, desperation and hopelessness he was feeling. They had to be soul crushing.

“My, you made it pretty far, Pine Tree, “ Bill cackled and turned to look to the direction of the Mystery Shack that already peeked from behind the trees, “such a shame really...for you that is. A hundred meters more and you would have made it to the yard.”

Dipper grit his teeth and looked up at the demon who was towering over him, his golden eyes narrowed due to the wide grin, those razor sharp white teeth showing.

“But I guess that all good things have to come to an end,” the demon sighed and stepped onto the boy's back so that his foot rested between Dipper's shoulder blades.

“So sick and weak,” the demon mused as he shifted some of his weight onto the boy's back, “you really need someone to look after you in this world,” Bill continued in happy tone, “you clearly can't survive alone in here. You are so lucky that you have a personal guardian demon!”

“Let me go Bill!” Dipper snapped angrily, “you have no right to do this to me!” he added in almost desperate tone.  
The demon looked down at him in disparaging manner and with a smug expression,

“Really now? To me it looks like you are in no position to demand anything from me, while I, can do _**anything**_ I want with you,” the golden eyed shadow demon purred as he let more of his weight on Dipper's small form, pressing him against the cold and dead forest floor in almost painful manner to bore in the facts,

“You are lucky that I choose to be a merciful god to you, Pine Tree,” the demon cackled before stepping over Dipper, momentarily letting his full weight on the pre-teen who grit his teeth to keep a whimper of discomfort from escaping.

The tall, albeit thin, demon weighted almost more than Dipper's small and already weakened body could bear. His chest hurt and for few seconds it almost felt as if his bones were going to crack underneath the pressure.

Dipper looked up, only to see the tall demon stroll over to the walkie talkie with few swift steps,

“This thing,” Bill said as he poked the radio with his foot,

“is how you'd be in contact with Sixer and Shooting Star? Clever,” the demon laughed in jittery tone before flashing a cruel smile at his bound pet who was looking into his slightly narrowed golden eyes with fearful expression on his face,

“Wh..what are you doing, Bill? Don't touch that!”

“Now, it would be a shame if I did this, wouldn't it?” The demon asked with an insane grin on his face as he stepped on the black radio, applying pressure on the device,

”without this, you wouldn't be able to contact your family again...they'd never hear from you again, Pine tree. Wouldn't that be hilarious?”  
Dipper watched in horror how the plastic casing creaked slightly underneath the demon's weight,

“Don't...” Dipper said weakly, his eyes fixated on the radio that had dug slightly into the soft ground, “don't break it! That's the only way I can contact Mabel!” Dipper yelled in desperation as he watched the demon who was about to break his radio phone.

“What? Are you telling me what to do here, Pine Tree?” Bill asked, his golden markings and eyes glowing eerily in the darkness,

Dipper shifted his gaze to meet Bill's who was looking down at him. There was no question of who was in control.

The scared, hopeless and utterly terrified look in the boy's eyes was like vilest drug to the demon who was gradually shifting more of his weight onto the small device.

 _If Bill breaks the radio, I will never hear my sister's voice again_ , Dipper thought in terror, and he started to feel weak and light headed from the exposure to the toxic environment, _I... I at least want to say my farewells if I can't get home, I....,_ Dipper thought what he wanted, _I want to get back to Mabel and my family. I don't want to be here. I won't become Bill's plaything._

 

“Watching you try and find a way back home in vain has been fun for the past few days, especially with everyone in Gravity Falls searching for you,” the demon with black and almost slightly glowing golden hair laughed, applying so much pressure on the radio that the casing actually cracked beneath it to Dipper's terror.

“and I think it would be most fun to leave them all wondering what happened to you,” the demon, who was few seconds away from completely crushing the radio underneath his foot cackled.

“Your disappearance will be the greatest mystery of all time. All I care, your family can live the rest of their lives trying to find out where you disappeared to,” the demon mused, their gazes locked, “the mystery twins indeed, the brother's disappearance will always remain as one. You'll go down as a legend, Pine Tree and that is just hilarious.”

 

Whatever shreds of bullheadedness Dipper had left in his weakened state disappeared and much to his horror, he actually begged Bill to stop.  
“Bill, please don't break it!” Dipper yelled desperately and tried to crawl forwards, but the vines and roots refused to let him go, only tightened their hold around his limbs.

“Well, aren't you desperate,” the demon noted with a cruel and smug smirk with his head tilted slightly to the side in mocking manner, “it's pretty cute you know.”

“Please Bill,” Dipper said on a verge of tears, his fingers digging into the cold ground, “just don't break it. I'll do anything.”

 

To Dipper's relief, Bill actually stopped and for a moment, they just stared at each other. A playful, albeit cruel smug smile played on Bill's lips and he couldn't help but grin when the boy averted his gaze, looking down at the dark ground.

“Don't break it,” Dipper repeated quietly, not daring to look up at the demon who was grinning from ear to ear.

He had barely any mental strength left and if begging Bill to stop destroying the piece of equipment he needed in order to hear his family's voices again, so be it.

This dark dimension was pure toxic to his mind and body, weakening him with each passing second.

A growing part of him just wanted to give up all together and submit to Bill's whims, but his mind still screamed at him to fight and struggle until he got home. The desire to see his family again was a powerful incentive.

“Well, since you asked so nicely, I just might not,” Bill said with a grin before shifting his weight completely off the black radio.

 _Please don't be broken,_ was all Dipper thought think of as he stared at the radio with cracked casing, hoping that the components inside had not been damaged.

The demon took few steps to close the distance between him and Dipper before snapping his sharp nailed, almost spidery like long fingers. Much to the boy's relief, the roots and vines let go of his body in an instant, letting him to rise up into a sitting position.

 

The golden eyed shadow demon squatted down in front of the scared, weak and pale looking pre-teen with a creepy smile on his face, the slightly sharper looking teeth showing.

The demon's expression was smug as he looked into Dipper's eyes that had lost some of their shine due to the fever.

Soon he'd be too weak to continue his futile struggles to get home and would be subdued by the dark world that was hostile to human life.

This had been one sided game from the beginning, one to amuse Bill and to show Dipper that he belonged to the demon, no matter how hard he struggled and fought. Now however, the game was nearing its end, the leash around the boy's neck tightening.

 

”I can hear your heart beat, it is such a wonderful rhythm, ” Bill murmured, lifting his hand to trail his sharp nailed long fingers up along the boy's warm chest, enjoying the sensation and his effect on Dipper' immensely. The boy started almost hyperventilating when he felt the sharp nails through his t-shirt.

“It is almost like music to me,” Bill purred as he trailed those cold fingers up along the soft warm flesh of Dipper's neck. The sharp nails kissed his prey's skin and the nightmare demon couldn't help but smile dangerously when Dipper swallowed due to the fear and nervousness he was experiencing. He could so easily just take hold of that small neck and wring it.

But why would he do that? The little Pine Tree was going to be his companion.

When Bill reached his prey's chin, he lifted it up slightly with 2 fingers so that Dipper had to once more look deep into those golden eyes that had truly insane look in them, promising only madness.

“Stop playing with me Cipher,” Dipper managed to say and the demon just shook his head before standing up, towering over the boy.

Dipper too managed to get up, his weak and shaky legs barely carrinyf hi,. His whole body was shivering and it felt like Bill was about to strike at him any moment.

 

The demon circled around the feverish boy, his golden eyes observing the kid's every movement while Dipper tried to keep his eyes on the demon as well, feeling extremely vulnerable.

“You humans are so fragile things that it is just hilarious,” the demon cackled as he ran his hand along Dipper's arms and shoulders while circling around him like a shark, the razor sharp black nails grazing over the boy's neck,

“I mean, just look at you! You are feverish, famished and so weak already. I'm surprised you didn't come begging for me to end all this and just take you with me. But I understand,” the demon laughed, “you are too proud to admit your defeat. There is no shame in it~”

 

Dipper just stood there, paralyzed by fear and by his own weakness. Bill's touch was ice cold and there was something very dark and possessive about it, like he wanted to possess him once more fully and never release his hold.

 _He is just toying with me_ , Dipper thought desperately, and tried to follow his captor's movements as he circled around him like a shark. The demon's movements were graceful and the glowing golden markings looked absolutely mesmerizing to the boy who was starting to develop a high fever.

 _He is quite beautiful in this dark place_ , Dipper pondered, and for some reason, he wanted to just stay close to the golden glow that was the only light source in this world. The brunette started to have hard time focusing his mind due to the climbing fever and a part of him just wanted to lie down and sleep it off, but the hunger and thirst along with the constant cold would make it impossible.

The brunette boy trembled in fear, closing his eyes when Bill felt his forehead with his cold palm. It actually felt quite nice.

“You are burning,” the demon almost giggled, his graceful fingers feeling Dipper's soft brunette hair, “a small wonder you are still standing. You are lucky I am here for you. At times I'm surprised you humans have made it this far in your own world.”

For a moment the demon looked ponderous, glancing over his shoulder at the Mystery Shack that hid behind the trees, only to to turn his gaze back at Dipper with a playful smile on his lips.

"You know Pine Tree, you've been a good sport~ You will certainly eradicate the dullness of my nightmare realm for a couple of centuries if I can't enter Gravity Falls,” the immortal being noted, only to shook his head slightly and scoff, “but I do have to admit that this is pretty anti-climactic,”

 _This is just amusement to him, my suffering, my_ _ **family's**_ _suffering is just something Bill watches to distract himself,_ Dipper thought bitterly and fearfully, trying to ignore the feeling of Bill running his thumb over his soft lips, parting them slightly,

“Watching you for the past 2 days has been fun and while this has to end, I expected something a bit more...grand and dramatic so to speak,” the demon purred, taking hold of Dipper's face with both hands, his sharp, almost talon like nails digging slightly into the boy's soft and pale skin.

“Why don't we make this a bit more interesting?” the demon purred, his angular face inches away from Dipper's. Their gazes locked together, Bill's golden eyes fixating on Dipper's hazy ones,

“I think I should give you at least a chance to get back to your family, that way, it'll be more fun for **all** of us when I carry you to my realm.”

Dipper chewed his lower lip slightly, unsure what to think of all this, but Bill could see the burning, almost painful desire to get back to his family reflect in the boy's eyes, eyes that had lost almost all their shine.

“I'll give you 2 minute head start,” Bill murmured and poked Dipper's nose with his claw like finger before flashing a cruel, possessive grin,

“unless you want to go with me already,” the demon laughed and for a fleeting moment, Dipper actually considered it, not wanting to leave the demon whose golden markings looked now almost comforting in the utter darkness of the realm.

Bill stepped aside so that he wasn't blocking the boy's way anymore.

“Go on then, Pine Tree. Lets see what Sixer can do for you.”

 

Dipper tried to calm down  but it was of no use. With weak and shaky legs the Pines boy approached the walkie talkie that lied on the forest floor.

But, when he was about to take yet another step forward, Dipper's legs suddenly gave out underneath him and he fell onto his knees, supporting himself with hands so that he wouldn't slump against the cold ground. The Pines boy's vision went all blurry and it felt like he couldn't get enough air.

The demon actually looked surprised when the kid fell before his eyes and started coughing violently. Apparently the miasma having seeped his strength for way too long.

Dipper was pale and his body was burning with fever. As he coughed, his lungs brought up black, almost tar like substance, some of the droplets hitting his hands while the rest landed onto the ground. The spores in the air had piled up in his lungs.

 _W...what is this?_ Dipper thought desperately as he lost what remained of his strength and slumped onto the cold ground, unable to support himself.

 

The surprised look on Bill's face started to disappear and got replaced by an amused smile that quickly turns his whole expression predatory.

“Unless, you are too weak to continue that is,” the demon laughed and started circling Dipper's form once more, “can you move at all? Do you have any strength left in that small and frail body of yours, Pine Tree?”

“I just tripped!” Dipper replied, panic evident in his tone as he struggled to get the coughing under control and get back up.

Bill crouched down next to Dipper who was scared to death. The golden and black haired demon cocked his head slightly to the side with creepy look in his eyes, his smile bordering insanity. The Pines boy tried to keep down a scared whimper when he felt his captor trail those sharp, claw like fingers along his spine until he reached the back of his neck. Bill hummed softly as he caressed the sick boy's head, playing with the soft hair.

“Don't..” Dipper hissed feverishly and tried to slap Bill's hand away but it was useless, if anything, the futile attempt merely amused the demon who was now feeling his neck, clearly wanting to feel the rapid pulse.

“I guess there is no choice here for you after all, I have to take you with me. I simply can't bear to see you in a state like this, Pine Tree,” Bill cackled as Dipper tried to get up onto his feet and away from the demon who was just toying with him.

“I'm going home, and I will find a way to stop you with Mabel, Grunkle Stanley and Ford,” Dipper sated and managed to get into a sitting position, “and when the summer is over, I'll return home.”

 

The nightmare creature was leering at him with absolutely malicious look in those golden eyes of his.

“My, you are delirious already, Pine Tree,” the demon whispered against Dipper's ear before wrapping his long, slender arms around the boy who was sitting on the ground, his whole body trembling.

“You are too far gone already, there is nothing left but take you with me, Pine Tree,” Bill muttered as he ran his hand over Dipper's burning forehead while nuzzling the back of his head with the side of his face, “how can you escape me if you can't even stand up?”

 _I want to go home,_ Dipper almost cried, hating the feeling of the tall demon hugging him from behind. Bill's cold embrace made him almost blackout.

 

“Let go of me Bill! I don't want this, I don't want into your world! I want to go home. You can't...,” Dipper yelled with his last strength, the desperation and emotional pain starting to get too great. He was nearing his breaking point fast and tried to get away from the demon's embrace, but Bill merely sneered maliciously and tightened his hold.

“You are mine, Pine tree,” the nightmare demon mocked his prey, “you do realize that you are lost to your reality, right? My dimension will become your new home~”

Dipper's eyes widened in terror and he grit his teeth, fighting the tears. He was going to turn into a teen within few days...he wasn't supposed to cry.

“You can't do this to me,” he said, only for the demon to nuzzle the back of his neck affectionately,

“Of course I can you stupid human,” Bill mocked him.

“You said you wanted to let me try and get home, don't you want to make it interesting? I can continue this Bill...Really...” Dipper pleaded and was unable to fight the tears, some of the warm drops landing onto the demon's cold forearms that were covered in golden markings and runes.

“Let me try and get back home.”

The demon remained quiet for a moment and just held Dipper in his ruinous embrace before tilting his head slightly to the side with a pondering look in his golden eyes,

“Well, it would be a shame if your family didn't hear your tragic end. It will be so much fun to see Sixer and your sister try and strike a deal with me to get you back,” the demon whispered against Dipper's ear before letting go of him and standing up,

“but I assure you, Pine Tree, that I won't give you up no matter how good of a deal I'd get. I'll trick them and soon enough, we will both seize your reality as our playground.”

“Five minutes, that's all you'll get,” the demon said with a smile and walked over to the radio to pick it up.

“Do make it interesting, Pine Tree,” Bill said with a smug smile as he handed the radio to the sickly looking boy who took it with trembling hands.

“You won't get to play with me Bill,” Dipper said and finally managed to get up.

 

Bill shook his head and laughed softly as Dipper disappeared into the woods once more, clearly amazed by the human's resilience.

“Well, not that I complain, it is good that Sixer and Shooting Star get to hear your desperate begging and cries as I drag you with me into my dimension, Pine Tree,” Bill mused as he stood up and leaned against a tree with his arms folded over his chest.

Better give the sick boy the much needed head start,

“I want to see the face you make when you realize that not even Sixer can help you,,” the golden haired demon said maliciously as he stared at the Mystery Shack that peeked from behind the trees, clearly despising the researcher who had stopped him from entering the human world many years ago.

After a short moment, Bill straightened his back and popped his shoulders slightly.

 

“Time's up.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking about starting yet another Bil lX Dipper story with Bill owning a book store and specializes in occult and Dipper is curious and becomes a loyal customer.


	6. Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper finally manages to make it to the Mystery Shack, but it isn't the safe haven he had hoped for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "1 k words per chapter...max" *looks at the 8k word chapter* "I'm doing great!!" *cries*  
> Anyways, this was originally much longer but I had to cut it in half to make it manageable. My English is just so rusty. The end is near! Only next chapter and maybe an epilogue.

 

Dipper hugged the black radio against his chest as he made it out of the dark woods and into the yard of the Mystery Shack. He feared, that if he loosened his hold on the device even slightly, it would slip from his hold for certain and become lost in the darkness, never to be found again. The radio was his only way to contact his family and losing it would seal his fate as Bill's plaything.

“I want to wake up from this nightmare, Mabel,” Dipper whispered hopelessly as he rushed towards the back door.

The pre teen glanced over his shoulder, and could see Bill's faint golden glow behind the dead trees. It looked like the nightmare demon was actually keeping his promise and was patiently waiting for the 5 minute head start coming to its end.

It was pretty hard to tell the time when every damn clock was dead in this strange, hostile and dark world. The best Dipper could do was guess or try counting the minutes, but in his panicked and feverish state it proved to be impossible. There was one thing he could be sure of though...he was running out of time fast.

To Bill, this game was probably something akin to watching and prolonging a death of an animal that had been wounded and cornered. Not only that, but he was also poking the poor thing with a stick to dig in the fact that everything it did was useless. The animal got to live as long as the cruel and sadistic hunter found its suffering amusing. Dipper knew that he was the animal in this game.

The Pines boy had to stop for a moment to cough as his lungs started to burn painfully. His body was nearing its limit and Dipper knew very well that if it wasn't for the adrenaline coursing through his veins, he would probably have fallen onto the cold dead ground a good while ago, unable to move a muscle.

Dipper did his best to calm down and looked up at the Mystery Shack before him. The young Pines boy could feel how fear and dread entered his heart as he stared at the tall wooden building that looked just as twisted, crooked and distorted as everything else in this nightmarish reality.

The house was void of any light and the roof and walls missed boards, making the building look truly ghastly, as if it was about to fall apart any moment. It really did seem like nothing was left untouched by this world of death and decay.

 _When I enter, I'm sure everything will be just like I remember_ , the Pines boy thought as he eyed the building before him, yet...he knew that it would not be so, no matter how hard he wished it. The demon was probably laughing at him for hoping that the Mystery Shack could somehow offer a safe haven from the nightmare he had been pushed into. This place couldn't offer any safety, nothing could.

“Oh please, don't be locked,” Dipper muttered when he climbed up the couple of steps to the back door and tried to pull it open. Thankfully, the door was not locked, but to Dippers horror and bad luck the hinges were completely covered in rust and thus the door was stuck, barely moving when he tried to pry it open.

“No, no, not now, anything but this,” the Pines boy whispered hopelessly as he tried to pull the door as hard as he could, but no matter how hard he tried, it stayed adamantly shut.

Every now and then he glanced towards the forest to see if Bill was already on his heels since he had no idea if 5 minutes had already passed or not.

Bill was like a monster from his childhood nightmares, one that had caused him to wake up many times covered in cold sweat. During those nights, he'd seek comfort from his parents or sister who had always been quick to offer warm comfort, safety and promise that no one would hurt him...that things would turn ok.

Only this time, it was all real and there was no one to save him from his pursuer who'd certainly make it so that he'd never escape this hell.

The thought was too painful and it gave the boy enough strength to pull at the door as hard as he could one last time. Miraculously, it was enough and the door opened with a loud and ear piercing creak. It was the most beautiful sound Dipper had heard during his time in this realm.

 

Dipper felt a feeling of relief wash over him and he didn't waste time dawdling. The young boy slipped inside the house and closed the door behind, making sure to put the latch on. It probably wouldn't stop Bill, but maybe it would buy him some time. With slow and unsure steps the Pines boy backed away from the door and made his way deeper inside the house to try and find a place to hide and catch his breath in.

“I have to try and contact Ford, Mabel and Stanley,” Dipper told himself as he found his way into the living room

The moment Dipper reached the living room, he fell onto the floor completely exhausted and drained. His breathing was raspy and heavy and it was a struggle to keep his eyes open. Not only that, but his small form was covered in cold sweat and he looked extremely pale. The boy's head was spinning slightly and his eyes were all hazy. The world around him seemed to grow darker around him, but the sheer will power kept him in the realm of the waken. The fever was burning his body, the pain reaching all the way down to his bones.

A side of him just wanted to drift off into sleep and let what ever fate expected him claim him. It would be a bad end for him, a life as Bill's plaything.

Suddenly even the dust covered and worn out armchair Stanley always watched TV in looked like a good place to just curl up and fall asleep on.

 _Maybe, won't Bill can't find me in here,_ Dipper thought and closed his eyes just for a moment, only to snap out of it. He hadn't made it this far to just give up and let himself become a helpless victim. “I wont let Mabel and the others down...I...I won't disappear,” Dipper muttered as he got up into a sitting position, trying to stay strong.

The brunette boy took a moment to study his surroundings and realized that for some reason, the Mystery Shack wasn't as badly decayed and darkened from the inside as the rest of the buildings in the village. While the items and furniture in other buildings were covered in black mold and completely unusable, everything inside this house seemed to be intact albeit decayed and covered in dust.

“It has to be the ward Ford created,” Dipper muttered out loud. His assumptions of the ward being in tact and reaching this side had apparently proven true since the air itself felt less poisonous and oppressing. Even the radio's static seemed to lessen.

 

The Pines boy crawled behind the armchair and rested his back against it while hugging the radio desperately. He had never been this scared in his life and his heart refused to stop pounding against his chest.

He could still feel Bill's arms around him and the demon's dark promises and cruel words refused to leave his mind.

“If I don't get out of this world now, Bill will get me...this is a dead end,” Dipper whispered, knowing that it would all soon end.

What he was facing now was not some summer adventure with his sister with a slim chance of danger, no, this was something out of his worst nightmares and it started to feel like he couldn't escape no matter how hard he tried and struggled. The harder he tried to fight, the more painful and hopeless his struggles became. Even Mystery Shack was just as lifeless and empty as the rest of this dangerous world that was just a playground to Bill.

Holding his breath, Dipper toggled the radio on and listened to the static for a moment. For some reason, he was afraid to say anything.

"Mabel? Grunkle Stan? Great Uncle Ford? Can any of you hear me?" Dipper almost pleaded and held the radio close to his face, fearing that he wouldn't get any answer, that he'd be trapped here until Bill found him and dragged him into that nightmarish world he came from, the realm that would become his new home. “Mabel...I'm so scared, so please, just answer me.”

For a short moment, all he received was silence and static.

 _There really is no one there..._ Dipper thought, the paralyzing realization gripping his heart.

The silence made him want to drop the radio onto the floor and just bury his face against his knees, to just lose all control over himself and cry his heart out. He clearly was Bill's property now, been from the moment he had fallen into the demon's horrible trap.

 _What's the point of struggling when there is no one or nothing to help me. I should just go to him. I can't make it out of this place alone,_ Dipper thought, his grip on the radio weakening. “I want this to end! I can't take this anymore,” he a cried out in fear and desperation.

Just when he was about to drop the device, it came to life and the Pines boy could hear his sister's kind albeit worried voice.

"Dipper?"

The boy's heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened with tears forming in them.

The spark of hope had been lighted again.

 

* * *

 

The atmosphere inside the Mystery Shack was growing more and more hopeless as the moon traversed over the cloudy night sky. The Pines family was sitting around the table, each doing something to ease the stress and take away their minds from the worst possible outcome.

Stanley was cracking his knuckles absentmindedly, probably imagining himself punching Bill into face. Mabel on the other hand was nursing a cup of hot tea between her hands, staring at the walkie talkie that was standing in the middle of the wooden surface. It was like a monolith they wanted to come to life and tell where Dipper was.

Ford was tweaking a small device he had said to be able to create a portal between this and Bill's temporary world...but he'd have to pinpoint Dipper's location first.

It was around 2 am already and Mabel was about to fall asleep no matter what tricks she tried to use in order to stay awake and focused. Hell, she had even made herself a large glass of extra strong Mabel juice. To be honest, it was just normal Mabel juice that had been put through a blender with a handful of caffeine tablets. Ford had been foolish enough to offer one to his grand niece and she of course had snatched the whole bottle, dumping its contents into a blender with the juice.

"Where could Dipper be," Mabel sighed and sipped the tea Stanley had brought her, having decided that Mabel couldn't handle any more caffeine.

Ford had explained where Dipper was, but it didn't make much sense to Mabel and now the three of them were just sitting around, waiting desperately for Dipper to contact them, but...it would require from her brother to reach Mystery Shack in the first place and if he hadn't done so already, would he ever?

 

"What...what if Bill has caught him already?" Mabel asked from the researcher who stopped tinkering with the device and lifted his gaze up to meet Mabel's. Even if he wouldn't admit it, Ford looked worried, tired...scared even. The man didn't have to say it out loud, his eyes told Mabel that it was a very possible scenario.

Not knowing was perhaps the worst thing about all of this.

A sensation of relief and hope had overwhelmed Mabel when Ford had explained where Dipper was, but when he had gone to the fine details, telling her exactly what that horrible mirror world was, Mabel couldn't help but wonder if she had been better off not knowing.

The old researcher had described vividly and in great detail how it was a realm of shadows where even the air was dangerous to a human being. Her brother was trapped in that world all alone, and knowing Dipper, he was desperately trying to find a way back home while being toyed by Bill

To hear that her brother was trapped in some crossroads dimension where everything was hostile towards him was terrifying.

 _Is Dipper suffering there?_ Mabel wondered. _Is he all alone and scared? What does Bill want with him?_

 

To Mabel, that realm sounded like something out of her worst nightmares. She needed to save her brother quickly and it was absolutely infuriating that she could do nothing else but sit around waiting with Ford and Stanley. The possibility that she might never even hear Dipper's voice again was terrifying.

 _What will I do if I lose my brother? He is the most important thing to me in the world. I...I just can't lose him,_ Mabel thought as he held the warm cup in her hands and just stared at the surface with eyes that were filled with sadness. It was a look Mabel rarely had since few things could pierce her optimistic and happy persona. The sweater wearing girl bit her lip slightly, trying to stay strong. Maybe if she fell asleep and made some deal with Bill, he'd give her brother back.

_Bill wants to make deals, right? I'm sure he will let Dipper return home._

“What should I do?” Mabel whispered and closed her eyes. She was so tired, but sleeping was impossible. “Give him back to me.”

 

Stanley saw the heartbroken look in his niece's eyes, but just when the fez wearing man was about to comfort her, the radio came to life. The brunette girl's eyes widened in shock and she fixated her eyes on the radio.

"Mabel? Grunkle Stan? Ford?" The voice that broke it through the static was clearly Dipper's, there was no question of it!

"Dipper?" Mabel asked in shock, but when the realization hit her, she grabbed the black radio before Stanford could reach it. "Oh my gosh Dipper!" Mabel practically screamed into the radio and hugged it as if it was her brother himself. Few warm tears rolled down her cheeks. “Thank goodness you are ok! I was so worried I'd never hear your voice again,” the young girl almost cried.

“Mabel...I'm so happy to hear your voice,” Dipper's weak voice said from the other side and it sounded like he was on the verge of breaking down completely.

"I've missed you so much bro bro, where are you? We will come and save you for certain," Mabel demanded, half forgetting what Ford had told her, "Where did that stupid triangle take you?"

 

"I'm here, in the living room...I..." Dipper paused. "I don't quite understand how, but Bill isn't really a triangle here."

"Eh? Not a triangle?" but before Mabel could continue and turn it into a proper chat, Ford grabbed the radiophone from her with a dead serious expression on his face. He knew that time was of the essence and that they'd have to act quickly if they were to save Dipper.

"Dipper? Listen to me, are you alright?" the researcher asked. “What is your condition? Has that demon hurt you?”

"I don't think so Great uncle Ford. It's so cold and dark in here and I feel sick," Dipper's weak voice said and it sounded like he was choking up slightly. "I don't think I can continue much longer. I have trouble breathing in here."

The boy sounded feverish.

Mabel who had leaned against the table went pale. Hearing her brother say those things clearly in pain and fear made her feel powerless and angry. She had always managed to help Dipper with bullies at school, but this time there was nothing she could do other than comfort and encourage him. Bill was a bully that she couldn't deal with...and her brother was completely under his mercy.

Ford did his best to stay calm, but the two other Pines family members could see how agitated and worried he was.

"More important question, Dipper. Are you in safe location? Does Bill know where you are?"

Silence filled the radio waves and all the three could hear was Dipper's raspy breathing.

"No, Bill is just outside the door, he is hunting me. I don't think it is safe in here. He is not inside the Mystery Shack yet, but...” Dipper said, starting to clearly breathe faster due to panic. “I...I don't know what to do. I'm running out of time. "

 

Ford lifted his glasses a bit and rubbed the spot between his eyes. To Mabel it looked like hadn't thought the situation to be this bad or dire.

"Listen closely Dipper, what does Bill look like? You said to Mabel that he is not a triangle?" Ford asked calmly, trying to determine just how bad the situation was. “Can you describe in detail what his form is where you are?”

"Tall and human like with golden markings all over his body. His hair is black and gold," Dipper explained and when Ford heard the description, his expression turned more and more worried. "His limbs are long with claws for hands and he has 3 eyes.” Dipper paused for a second, only to add. “Come to think of it, he reminds me of the god of dreams in DD&D edition 4.5.”

"What?" Mabel asked all confused. It was clear that Dipper was getting slightly delirious due to the fever and both emotional and physical exhaustion.

Ford looked somehow ashamed for some reason.

"That's because I pitched the design when I was younger and it made it into that edition. I dealt with Bill multiple times when he was in that form, thought he'd make for a good DD&D monster..." Stanford said and looked extremely troubled by Dipper's description of the nightmare demon. The two other Pines family members were staring at Stanley as if he had completely lost his mind.  
"Why would you do something like that!?" Mabel almost shrieked at her great uncle who looked ponderous, as if she had asked a real question, rather than accuse him of doing something like that for Bill who was an evil being. The mere idea of that damn triangle having his place in monster manual felt like an insult to justice.

"I was young and foolish, and I kinda wanted my name in the book credits," Ford replied, but then seemed to remember why he had asked the question in the first place,

Ford was quiet for a moment and it was clear that things were dire in deed.. "Listen Dipper, what ever it takes, do not let him take you. I can get you back, but not if Bill manages to drag you off to his world. Find something to defend yourself with and if it comes to Bill catching you, you'll have to fight. It is miracle that you've survived this long when he is showing you that form."

 

“Playing..” The boy's weak voice mumbled from the other side.

“Huh?” Mabel asked, having hard time understanding her brother who was clearly scared, tired and sick.  
“He is just playing with me. Like a cat letting a wounded mouse go only to catch it again,” Dipper whispered hopelessly to the family's horror. “I managed to make it this far just because Bill wants to make a game out of this.”

Ford's grip on the radio tightened.

“Even if he is just playing with you out of arrogance, we will use it against him. Bill has always been overconfident and probably thinks that you can't get home no matter what you do,” Ford muttered and looked vexed. “He clearly underestimates me and the Pines family,” the researcher scoffed angrily, feeling nothing but disgust and anger towards the demon who was tormenting and playing with this nephew. “Now, head upstairs as fast as possible. I can create a portal into your and Mable's room, I just have to do some more calculations now that we've contacted you.”

 

* * *

 

Dipper swallowed and felt lightheaded, few tears of relief trailed down his face but he quickly wiped them away with cold hands.

Hearing his family's voices gave him hope and urged him to follow his great uncle's words. After days of being all alone and scared, he finally got a contact to Mabel and the rest. Just hearing his twin's voice comforted him and gave him strength. He was so close to getting out of this hellish nightmare.

 _I'm going to see Mabel again, I'm sure of it,_ Dipper told himself. _I won't be taken and trapped by Bill._

“Ok Ford,” Dipper whispered fearfully as he slowly got up and started to make his way towards the stairs. He knew he had to be imagining it, but he could feel Bill's gaze every where.

"Great uncle Ford, If I don't make it, what will happen to me?" the boy asked as he held the radio with trembling hands.

The graying researcher let out a loud sigh and hesitated, not sure if he should tell his nephew, but talking seemed to calm and help the boy. "Dipper, for some reason Bill clearly wants to take you into his world," Ford said, his voice filled with concern. “It is a nightmarish world, one where there is no easy exit to be found.”

"Will I die there?" the young pines boy asked, voice barely more than a whisper as he made his way through the house, the dusty floorboards creaking underneath his feet. He had never been so scared of failing.

"No, but you'll become part of it. If you don't want to embrace Bill's world, don't take anything he offers."

Dipper smiled slightly when he heard how Mabel grabbed the radio from her uncles. "You'll be alright bro-bro, we will get you out of there. Grunkle Ford is almost done with his calculations!"

 

* * *

 

Bill hummed and laughed softly as he walked over to the back entrance of the Mystery Shack while eying the building smugly. The tall, slightly crooked house had many places to hide, but it was only a matter of time before he'd get his claws on the poor, sick little thing. As much as he loved this cat and mouse game, it had to end due to the boy being so close to possible death.

Watching the boy slowly slip into hopelessness and desperation was the best entertainment for the demon and Bill knew that he was going to love the aftermath even more. Pine Tree would have to accept the fact that he'd be trapped in his realm forever, never able to see his family again.

 _I'm going to be the only one he has, that's hilarious_! Bill thought and shook his head slightly with a wide and malicious grin on his face, his golden eyes fixated on the building before him.

All he had wanted, was to let Dipper nurture the faint hope of getting home, only to crush that dream beneath his foot and carry the scared boy with him back into his world, never to be seen again. What better way to torture Sixer and his family?

 _I guess it is only good manners to let his family hear his voice one last time, to say their farewells_ , Bill mused as he approached the building. However, the nightmare demon was forced to stop when he suddenly hit something that blocked his way forward.

A barrier.

"What in the..?" the demon asked out loud when he pressed his hand against the force field that was supposed to keep him out. The demon's eyes narrowed dangerously and in fury when he realized that the ward actually was still in effect, yet, it was weakened due to the overwhelming influence of his world.

"Cute," the demon purred as he traced his long and sharp nailed spidery fingers across the barrier that shimmered slightly against his touch. “Oh no, whatever will I do?” the demon asked all mockingly, digging his nails into the barrier. “Sorry Sixer but this won't protect your nephew from me, “ Bill finally laughed softly and with a dark grin, he tore the barrier asunder with his sharp claws.

With the obstacle gone, Bill stepped onto the porch tried the door, only to find it locked with the bolt. One obstacle after another.

The demon rolled his 3 golden eyes. “Tsk, as if this can keep me from taking you, Pine Tree,” the demon purred and just pulled at the door, tearing it off its hinges like it was nothing. With the the last obstacle out of his way, Bill stepped inside the Mystery Shack.

* * *

 

Dipper held his breath as he made his way towards the stairs leading into his and Mabel's room. The whole house was eerily quiet but he could constantly feel Bill's oppressing presence. The moldy and damp floor boards creaked forebodingly beneath his feet as he stepped into the corridor leading to the stairs and the back door.

 _I can do this, it will be alright Dipper, just stay calm,_ the boy thought and he could hear his sister's reassuring voice through the radio. Moving hurt and he couldn't move too fast anymore. “You are going to make it Bro-bro! Just hurry and that demon can't get its claws on you. I mean, you are this close to getting home, how could he possibly stop you? Bill was stupid to let you get a head start. No way will he get you.”

“Yeah,” Dipper whispered, but whatever hope had bloomed inside him withered, died and scattered into the wind when he lifted his gaze from the radio to look at the short corridor before him.

There was a tall shadowy figure standing there, blocking his way upstairs.

The lanky, thin demon was standing there with a dark smile on his face, his head tilted slightly to the side, reminding Dipper of a crooked man. His golden triangle shaped markings glowed eerily in the darkness of the house.

“Dipper?” Ford asked all worried when the boy went quiet and for a moment, Bill and Dipper just stared at each other. Bill's mesmerizing golden eyes were half-lidded and the smile on his face was cruel, malicious and playful at the same time, while Dipper's hazy eyes were filled with terror and fear.

"No," the boy said quietly, voice failing him. He was paralyzed by fear, unable to get past Bill who was leering at him.

“Good evening Sixer,” Bill finally said all happily and took a step forwards, blocking the boy's way to the stairs. “I'm so glad you got to participate in this.” The demon said before letting out an insane cackle, the expression on his face turning truly wicked.

“Oh, this is going to be fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, not much Bill and Dipper in this chapter, but it is all about them in the next chapter that is already written. I just have to add a couple more things and make it better before updating this again.


	7. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if I should increase the rating to M since there is a bit of violence here.  
> EDIT: ugh, so many missing words in sentences.

The Mystery Shack was dead silent as the human child and the nightmare demon just stared at each other. The atmosphere was so tense that one could cut it with a knife.

Bill's three golden eyes shone eerily in the darkness of the house and the smile on his face was truly frightening, expressing the pure mirth, maliciousness and victoriousness he had to be feeling at this moment.

The sight of the demon blocking his way back home with that horrendous expression on his face made a shiver run down Dipper's spine and he quickly found himself unable to move a single muscle. Simply put, he was paralyzed by fear and despair.

“Cipher...” Stanford said from the other side, having heard the demon address him. “Dipper the portal is ready, just hurry!” Ford yelled, knowing very well what the stakes were in this messed up game that chaotic and evil monster had created to amuse himself. “You can do it Dipper! You can make it back home. Do not let him win!”

 _No...I can't_ , the pre-teen found himself thinking when he realized that he couldn't take a single step forward. It was like his feet were glued to the floor boards beneath him and all he could do was stare into Bill's 3 golden eyes that were all focused on him. They were both frightening and mesmerizing at the same time.

“You know Sixer, I was going to take little Pine Tree here away without any of you knowing what had happened to him, but I do think this is much more amusing,” the demon cackled, looking like he was having a blast. “It is going to be so much fun to hear you beg...unable to help your foolish little nephew here in anyway.”

Cipher's smile widened until he was leering at his prey, a row of sharp white teeth visible. He shook his head slightly and laughed before shifting his gaze momentarily to the stairs near him. It didn't require much time from the quick witted demon to realize where his little prey was heading and what he had been planning with his family.

The sick boy's whole body started trembling and he had trouble breathing. _I want to go home, but I cant'. Why won't he let me. I've had enough of this!_

“My, on your way upstairs?,” the demon mused and tilted his head slightly to the side, gaze fixated on Dipper once more.

“Don't tell me this is the brilliant scheme Sixer came up with to save you from my personal playground? Seriously...a portal? How dumb can you humans be?” the shadow demon inquired and mocked the Pines family...Dipper and Stanford particularly. “Like I'd let you leave.”

All Dipper could do was stand there and watch as Cipher approached him in menacing manner, his beautiful eyes reflecting the joy he took from this. Dipper could barely stand up anymore. His body was burning with the fever and everything felt so hazy. It wouldn't surprise anyone if he just slumped onto the floor unconscious.

Bill took his time, trailing his razor sharp black claws along the damp and moldy wooden walls, leaving long and deep streaks into the wood to show just how sharp they could be. It was more than clear that demon could tear him apart in seconds if he wanted to.

“Bill! Leave Dipper out of this! You have no right to do this to him!” Ford stated angrily through the radio, but it only served to amuse the demon who shook his head slightly with a cruel smile on his face. Stanford was clearly seething and it made this all more delicious to the golden-black haired demon. The demon flexed his shoulders slightly and let out a soft laugh as he eyed his sick and pale little prey possessively.

“You don't want him. I am the one you are after and want to hurt! The one you wish to have revenge on! This is between me and you, Cipher. So just let my nephew return to this world.”

“Oh you are hilarious Sixer!” The demon mocked the man who tried to desperately help his nephew from the real world, yet all he could do was provide an exit. It was up to Dipper to make it to that exit and right now his chances looked nonexistent. “It took a lot of effort from me to bring Pine Tree here and I have no intentions of letting him go anywhere.”  
_If I just make it past Bill, I should be ok...all I need is to get upstairs_ , _but...he'll definitely grab me_ , the feverish boy thought and his grip on the radio tightened. Dipper found himself looking up to Bill's eyes when the demon closed the gap between them with few swift steps, towering over the scared boy in quite menacing manner.

Dipper's eyes widened in terror when Bill reached towards his face with those black, sharp nailed, albeit elegant claws.

“You know, I think you are hurting little Pine Tree's feelings here...” the demon said maliciously. “I'm going to take him to my world and make him into my perfect little pet...and by doing so, I'm hurting you and your whole family, Sixer. Now, isn't that just hilarious?” Bill laughed as he poked Dipper's forehead with his sharp nailed finger a couple of times, making the kid whimper and blink, tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

”Did you honestly think I would let you escape? You are so stupid that it is actually funny!” the nightmare demon cackled like it was the best joke he had ever heard, only to lower his voice slightly. “It is painful isn't it? To know you put yourself through all this with no chance of escape to begin with?” the golden eyed demon mocked Dipper with a cruel smile, turning the knife in the boy's wounds. “No one can save you, not even Sixer. You would have spared yourself from all this if you had just let me take you in the first place.“

“Bill, don't do this to him! You've put him through enough! Just let him return home.” Stanford yelled through the radio, but Bill just rolled his eyes and scoffed, ignoring the researcher completely.

“Now, why don't we get going Pine Tree?” the demon murmured softly to the feverish boy who still couldn't move. “You know, this is the last time you'll hear your family's voices. I'd say my farewells while you still can,” Cipher stated maliciously, his claw like hand petting Dipper's pale cheek.

Just when he was about to take hold of Dipper's arm to lead the boy into the darkness of the woods where he'd would be lost forever, something inside the boy finally made him snap out of his paralyzed state.

 _I'd never hear Mabel's voice again? Or see my parents? Stanley or Stanford? I..I can't...I want to go home!_ Dipper though and to him it sounded like the worst fate ever.

“Run Dipper!” Ford, Mabel and Stanley yelled in unison through the radio. Hearing his family's commanding and desperate voices urge him to escape made Dipper finally regain the control of his body.

Had he not been ridden by fever, hunger and thirst, maybe the boy could have escaped Bill's grasp, but in his weakened state, it didn't take any effort from Cipher to catch him.

“And where do you think you are going Pine Tree? Don't be an idiot,” the demon laughed and grabbed the boy's arm all playfully when he tried to dash past his tall form. Bill didn't use much strength and just pulled the kid back, swinging Dipper around before pushing him unceremoniously against the dark and damp wooden wall. Next to the sick boy was a small table with various things on it.

Dipper coughed and whimpered in pain, but somehow managed to support himself against the wall so that he didn't fall onto the cold floor. All the brunette kid could do was watch in terror how the nightmare demon towered over him with a malicious and playful look in his three golden eyes. Bill was blocking his way to the stairs with his body.

The small painful whimper that had escaped Dipper's lips reached his family on the other side, making them worry and fear for the boy's safety. Things were really looking dire and if something didn't happen fast...they'd lose him forever.

Dipper breathed somewhat weakly as he looked up into Bill's three golden orb's that were were slightly narrowed due to the insane grin on his face. Dipper's own eyes were hazy, having lost most of their shine a good while ago.

“That's a nice look you have on your face, Pine Tree,” Bill cackled menacingly, the golden markings on his body shining in the darkness. “Sixer, I really wish you could see the look of utter horror, despair and defeat on your nephew's face right now,” the demon purred as he placed his elegant claw like hand onto boy's shoulder, only to dig those sharp nails into the boy's shirt and flesh.

The brunette pre- teen cried out in discomfort and closed his eyes. Everything was so cold and he couldn't focus his mind anymore. His head was spinning and he just wanted to fall onto the ground or against Bill who'd certainly catch him.

The demon's other hand caressed the side of Dipper's neck before cradling the back of his head, feeling the soft brunette hair. “I have to say, Pine Tree, that your scared scent is absolutely intoxicating to me,” the demon purred while playing with Dipper by turning his head to study him, trailing those sharp nails along the boy's cheek. It was clear that Dipper was too tired, weak and feverish to fight, so he just let Bill toy with him as if he was a doll.

Dipper took deep breathes and tried to stay calm, but it was all useless.

“Ford, Grunkle Stan...Mabel, I want to go home,” Dipper said in heartbreaking manner as Bill trailed his sharp nails along his temples all lovingly, adoring how his toy was too weak to put up a fight. “I don't want to be here.” Warm tears trailed down Dipper's cheek, touching the demon's claws.

“Dipper...” Ford's now almost desperate voice said and it was followed by Mabel's soft sobbing.

“How does it feel knowing there is nothing you can do to save poor little Pine Tree here? It is painful, isn't it?” Bill cackled menacingly, lifting Dipper's chin up so that the boy had to once more look into his golden eyes that were shining with malice and playfulness. “Like I'd ever let you go,” the demon whispered to his prey, but his words were loud enough to reach the real world.”So don't cry. We'll have so much fun together in my realm. I'll even introduce you to my friends! I'm sure a little freak like yourself will fit in just fine. ”

“Let my brother return here!” Mabel yelled, sounding extremely angry and desperate. She was at her wit's end, just like the rest of the family.

“Oh don't worry Shooting Star, I will take good care of your brother. He will be trapped in my nightmare realm forever~” Bill stated in sing song tone, both hands caressing Dipper's face, forcing the boy to keep the eye contact no matter what. “I'll show him all the dark secrets Sixer could never even dream of finding,” the demon mused and tilted his head slightly to the side. “Isn't that a dream come true for you, kid? You'll see all the horrors the endless universe has to offer you,” Cipher said with a laugh, the grin on his face truly insane.

The demon's sharp nails dug into Dipper's skin right beneath his eyes.

“Everything about you is mine.”

“He doesn't belong to you, you rotten demon!” Stanley yelled in pure rage and hatred. He refused to accept this. No demon was going to take away his nephew!

Cipher cackled in insane manner, really digging in the fact that none of the Pines family could really affect him in anyway.

“Pine Tree belonged to me the moment I dragged him here,” Bill said maliciously, only to pause and shook his head with a cruel grin playing on his lips. “Actually no, he became mine the moment he agreed to become my puppet.”

Dipper's whole form trembled when Cipher ran his hand along his shoulder. “This body,” the demon started and slowly trailed his black claw down to Dipper's heart, “soul,” he continued, only to grab and press the boy's head against the moldy wooden wall quite painfully, “even his feeble little mind belong to me,” the nightmarish monster finished, his tone venomous and cold.

The pre-teen let out a small terrified sob when Bill let go of his head. He could still feel the pressure.

_I don't belong to him. I can't._

The small sob of fear didn't go unnoticed by the demon whose grin turned predatory in an instant. He ruffled Dipper's brunette hair playfully and petted the boy, as if he had just been playing with him.

“Oh come on, Pine Tree, there is no need to be scared, you'll get used to it quickly.”

The 3 Pines family members had gone quiet on the other side, leaving Dipper all alone with Bill.

The kid was paralyzed by fear and on the verge of breaking down in front of the nightmare demon. The Pines boy tightened his hold on the radio, hugging it against his chest.

“Dipper...” Stanford said from the other side. “I know you are scared, that it probably seems useless...but you have to fight till the end, for your and Mabel's sake. You have everything to lose...and there is little you can do to make your situation any worse. ”

Bill cackled at Stanford's words. “Oh you are amusing Sixer, but I think little Pine Tree here knows better than to cross me again, don't you?” the demon purred, hand caressing the boy's cheek..

"Come with me now kid and I'll make it as comfortable as possible, I'll carry you to our new home and let you recover in peace," Bill mused as he took a tight hold of Dipper's chin, forcing the fearful boy to look at him.

“I'll make you forget all about your useless family. You'll never see any of them again. I'm the only one you'll have. ”

 

Dipper's lips parted slightly and his feverish body started to rush with adrenaline. Ford's warnings echoed in his mind, reminding him of the cruel and merciless fate that would await him if he let Bill drag him into the hellish realm he came from.

 _I'd never see Mabel or my parents again...or be able to feel the comfort of the warm sun,_ Dipper thought in horror and with shocked look in his eyes that had to be truly intoxicating sight to the demon. _I'd never hear Mabel's voice or laughter again_. His whole body hurt and it felt like his bones were freezing _. Would she even be able to laugh again or enjoy life? I can't let that happen. I did not survive this nightmarish crossroads world this long just to be taken by Cipher._

_I refuse to let it end like this...I can't bear the thought of Mabel living a life filled with sadness._

 

“Oh Pine Tree, you'll look so lovely with golden eyes,” Bill purred and just when he was about to brush his thumb over the boy's lips, Dipper went in for one last desperate attempt of escaping. Ford was right. There was little he could do to make his situation any worse.

Dipper was like a rabid animal that had been cornered, going in for the one last desperate attempt to lash out at his hunter.

The Pines boy moved on an instinct, sinking his teeth into Bill's claw like hand as hard and deep as he could. Dipper could be sure his teeth pierced the Cipher's skin when he felt a taste of iron in his mouth, his corner teeth digging in deeper and more viciously than the rest. He knew it was desperate, even foolish, but if it managed to throw Bill off guard even for a moment...perhaps he could escape.

The empty corridor echoed slightly with the pained yell Bill let out when he felt a row of white teeth sink into his flesh, causing him immense pain. However, Dipper was quickly forced to release his hold when the nightmare demon yanked his hand away and shoved him away quite forcefully.

The pre teen almost dropped the radio when he fell ungracefully onto the cold, dust covered floor. For a moment, Bill just stared at his hand in disbelief. The wound was bleeding quite badly and one, could clearly see the small round bite mark on his flesh. Dark, almost viscous looking blood flowed down Bill's hand and some of it dripped onto the floor.

Both the demon and the kid stayed still and quiet for a moment, one in shock from the sudden attack while the other was too weak and feverish to understand right away that this was his best chance to escape.

Dipper could feel his heart start to race again when the demon slowly turned his attention from the wound to him. Cipher's expression was unreadable, and it made him only more terrifying. His golden eyes were wide and fixated on the boy's hazy one.

The boy wiped his mouth clean from the blood.

Slowly, the corner of Bill's mouth started to twitch slightly until a hideous smile formed on his face, eyes still fixated on Dipper's. It was a look that told the boy to run as fast as he could.

Dipper snapped out of it and tried to scramble up onto his feet and dash past the demon and towards the stairs, but Bill was faster.

"You little–!" Cipher yelled in pure rage as he grabbed a handful of the boy's brunette hair without any mercy, yanking him back in very painful manner. He had clearly lost his patience and was no longer playing. The grin on the demon's face was truly horrifying and the look in his golden eyes promised his prey only dark things. A pained whimper escaped Dipper's lips and his family could only imagine what he was experiencing right now.

"It is like you want me to kill you!” Bill yelled as he kept the struggling kid in his hold, taking great pleasure in the fact that the small kid really had no chance of escaping his hold. He pulled Dipper closer and leaned downwards. “I'm actually pretty tempted that grant wish! Just so that your family can lose even the futile hope of seeing you again!" the dream demon hissed before turning the boy around and pushing him against the wall once more so that he was back to square one. Before Dipper could react in any way, the demon's long and slender fingers took a firm grip of his small neck, pinning him against the wall.

It was scary how quickly Cipher's mood changed...but then again he had bit him. There was absolutely nothing gentle or playful about the demon anymore.

 

Dipper struggled and tried to get out of the demon's hold, but Bill had no intentions of letting him go, nor bite him again. The dark claw tightened around his slender neck, the sharp nails digging into his soft flesh almost painfully.

"Stay still you little..." Bill snapped as he tried to subdue the kid who was thrashing wildly and using his last remaining strength to try and get out of this horrible world, to escape the fate awaiting him.

“I'm not going with you!!” Dipper yelled in desperation as he tried to pry the demon's hands off his throat, but it was useless.

“Oh you certainly are, Pine Tree....and it isn't going to be pleasant anymore.”

“Dipper!? What is going on ?!” Mabel yelled from the other side. She was clearly in panic.

“Nothing that involves you, Shooting Star,” Bill growled as he leaned closer so that his face almost touched Dipper's, “though, thanks to your brother's nasty little trick, I think I'll mess with his mind until he forgets all about you. Yeah, I think that would be a fitting punishment,” Bill purred dangerously, tilting his head slightly. He loved the desperate look his feverish and sick prey had on his face. “He'll remember you just enough to know you exist, but he can't recall your name, nor your face..or what you sound like. Oh I like that, it'll drive him insane~”

Dipper gasped for air and when it became clear that he had no strength to pry Bill's hands off his neck, his arms went limp for a moment. Yet, with his last remaining energy and will power, Dipper tried to search the small table next to him for some weapon or anything that could suffice as one.

His hand found handle of a rusty letter opener.

"I swear Pine Tree, when I'm done with you, you'll beg forgiveness and for me to be a merciful master to you," the demon hissed with a grin on his face, his eyes wide with look that told Dipper that he was not lying.

The Pines boy, who felt like he was about to lose his consciousness due to the lack of air, curled his fingers around the handle of the letter opener. He aimed the rust covered blade for something golden.

"You and I are— " Bill started, but whatever he was going to say died on his lips when his eyes widened in surprise due to the unforeseen attack. Had it been a DD&D, one could have claimed Dipper's desperate attack to be a critical success.

Dipper knew, that he would never forget the sight or sound of the letter opener eviscerating one of Bill's golden eyes. It would be burned into his mind forever along with the expression Cipher had made, the look of utter disbelief, confusion and bafflement before the rust coated blade had slashed into his golden eye.

 

The demon shrieked in pain and let go of his prisoner in an instant.

The Pines boy watched in terror as the demon was on all fours on the wooden floor, holding his head, or more precisely the area where his eye had been as black tar like blood flowed onto the floor. Even though it looked bad,it was clear that the eye was already regenerating. He didn't have much time.

 _I have to get out now_ , Dipper thought as he leaned against the wall and filled his lungs with precious, albeit poisonous air. He coughed a couple of times, but thankfully managed to keep it under control.

Dipper lunged towards the stairs, grabbing only his radio, the backpack could rot in this world all he cared.

"Pine Tree! I will tear you and your mind into shreds!" the demon howled in pain as the kid escaped.

Dipper rushed over to the stairs that led to the second floor and into his and Mabel's room. "Uncle Ford, I need the portal quickly, I don't think I have much time."

The radio screeched slightly. "Ok Dipper, just get to your and Mabel's room, hurry."

 

Bill grit his teeth in pain as he snapped out of his shocked state. The eye he had lost to the damn letter opener was already regenerating and the pain had passed. He had to hand it to Pine Tree, the kid was head strong, but it would do little to serve him. The golden markings on Cipher's skin flared red and his golden eyes turned red as well.

He was done playing for good.

 

Dipper dashed up the stairs, only to trip in his feverish state and hit the sharp corners of the stairway painfully.

"Dipper? Are you alright? Please hurry!" Mabel's worried voice asked and the boy had to take few seconds to calm himself and endure the pain that quickly faded away.

"I'm ok, I just tripped, that's all," Dipper whispered as he got up onto his feet and started climbing the stairs upwards on all fours, feeling too weak to just run.

"The window works as a portal, all you have to do is get through it and you are safe Dipper," Ford explained in comforting and reassuring manner...yet he sounded worried and scared. All of them had heard the pained shriek of pure rage Bill had let out. The demon was clearly enraged.

"Yeah, no way that cursed demon can follow you here, Dipper," Grunkle Stanley's voice added.

The young boy had to fight his way up the steep stairs and the knowledge that his pursuer was on his heels made his legs go weak. The adrenaline rushing in his veins helped, but his condition could crash any moment.

 _I'm almost there, just a bit more,_ Dipper thought desperately. He had made a gamble and won it...so he had to get home. _I will make it._

Just when he was about to make it to the second floor and into his and Mabel's room, he heard steps near him. Dipper froze and turned his head to see Bill standing at the bottom of the stairs like some boogey man out of his worst nightmares. The golden glow was gone and the runes and markings on his skin were now glowing red, making him look like a real demon.

Dipper climbed the last few steps as quickly as he could, making it into his and Mabel's room without much trouble. The boy's body almost relaxed when he saw that beyond that triangle shaped window lied his own world with healthy forest, clear night sky with couple of passing clouds and bright silvery moon that looked so comforting. Home awaited him.

For few fleeting seconds, Dipper just stood there watching the sight yet, he knew he didn't have time to lose. All he had to do is rush to the end of the long room and get through the window.

 

“Quickly now Dipper!” Ford commanded him, and just when Dipper was about to step forward, he heard Bill chuckling. It was clear that the demon was not in hurry...

“Oh, it isn't that easy...” Cipher cackled softly, his voice filled with malice and mockery. “You really are an idiot.”

 

“Huh?” Dipper asked in shock when he took few steps towards the window, only to see how the shadows twisted and slithered around the room in unnatural and menacing manner.  
“What is it Dipper? Just hurry!” Ford urged him, but before Dipper could reply, the shadows extended and grew longer, only to attack him without a warning. The boy let out a fear filled yell when the cold dark shadows climbed up his legs and swept him off his feet so that he landed painfully onto his chest . The shadows ran across him, keeping him down before vanishing back into the correct places inside the room when they were no longer needed by their master.

“What happened?” Mabel yelled, but Dipper wasn't able to find the words to answer since his eyes were nailed onto Bill's golden ones. The demon had made his way up into the room, cornering his prey.

 

Dipper tried to crawl away from Cipher who was slowly approaching him. This time, Bill was not smiling and his eyes had merciless and chilling look in them.

"I...I'm going home, Bill," the feverish boy whispered and tried to get up but the demon closed the gap between them with few swift steps.

"G...Great Uncle Ford," Dipper whispered and tried to reach the radio phone that had been knocked from his hand when he had fallen. Just when his fingers were about to touch the black plastic, Bill stepped onto the boy's thin arm with his full weight. The kid whimpered and wailed slightly in discomfort and pain when Bill just stood there for a moment, staring down at him.

"2 times..." Cipher started quietly, his tone absolutely venomous. "You've stabbed me 2 times now. And in addition to that, you also bit me,” the demon purred, clearly enjoying the sight of his bullheaded captive trying to escape him. He was absolutely loving every second of this. His prey was mere meters away from escaping him, yet there was nothing Dipper could do to avoid his fate. “You know, I'm starting to have a feeling that you don't like me.”

Bill's gaze was locked with Dipper's who was squirming in pain and discomfort on the dusty and damp floor, unable to get his arm free no matter how hard he tried. The sense of powerlessness had returned, making the Pines boy feel desperate and terrified.

"I'm done playing with you. I've been way too lenient and this game bores me now," the tall demon purred as he watched the boy's futile attempts to escape or grab the radio that was beyond his reach.

“Dipper...” the boy could hear his sister's panicked voice.

"This ends now. Lets go. I'm going to introduce you to my friends, " the demon whispered dangerously as he reached down to grab one of the boy's legs, starting to drag him towards the stairs and away from the window that was a gateway back home.

"No! Let go of me Bil! I don't want to go with you," Dipper yelled in utter desperation, trying to hold onto anything but there was nothing he could hold onto.

He clawed desperately at the floor, nails leaving marks on the moist and somewhat moldy, dust covered floorboards. The boy's eyes fixated on the window and the safety of his world that lied beyond it. He was so close to reaching it, but now Bill was dragging him towards what ever nightmarish world he came from. He'd never see his family again.

Dipper didn't even notice how a small d20 dice fell from his jacket's pocket and rolled on the floor away from him. The radio screeched and it made Bill look over his shoulder, the damaged eye already healed.

"Bill, please let Dipper return home! I beg of you! He has nothing to do with this!" Ford's voice said. The man had clearly lost whatever pride he had held onto and was ready to plead the demon to just let his grand nephew return home unharmed. "You won't want him! I'm the one you hold a grudge towards, so I beg you, just let my nephew return home and we will do whatever you ask! I'm sure we can make some sort of a deal. Isn't that what you want?"

 

The demon stopped walking when he heard Ford's words. For a brief moment, Cipher stood still, as if considering Ford's words before glancing down at Dipper with expression that was completely void of any emotion, only to let go of the boy's leg and walk over to the radio to pick it up. Dipper crawled up into sitting position and held his arm that felt broken. He was scared to death and could hear Mabel crying her heart out on the other side.

 _I think Bill broke this_ , Dipper found himself thinking as he held his arm. Seeing Cipher walk over to the radio and actually pick it up got the pre teen's hopes up. Maybe he could see his family again after all, even if the price was great. Surely they'd figure out how to stop Bill together.

"Sorry Sixer, but your nephew belongs to me. Have fun living the rest of your life knowing that you couldn't save him," Bill stated coldly to Dipper's terror, but just when he was about to crush the radio in his claw, the demon's red glowing eyes fixated on something on the floor.

 

The red d20 dice.

 

Dipper was paralyzed by fear and he had no strength to move. All he could do was watch how the demon stared at the single 20 sided dice that rested on the dusty floor. Bill expression softened a bit and he tilted his head slightly to the side with actually amused and curious look in his eyes.

 _What is he planning?_ Dipper found himself thinking as the demon picked the dice up, turning and fiddling with it in his hand.

"I remember this..." Cipher muttered while holding the radio.

Slowly, a small wicked smile formed on his lips and he lifted his gaze to meet Dipper's who was staring at him in fear.

 _At least Bill was smiling again_ , Dipper thought... _even if it was malicious and sinister one._ "Actually, I do think I could play a little game with your nephew first." It was truly scary how quickly Bill's moods seemed to change so quickly.

Dipper got up into a sitting position when the demon strolled over to him, crouching down before his prey with a wide grin on his face, a row of sharp white teeth showing. The runes and markings on the demon's skin had turned once more golden, indicating that he was not overwhelmed with rage.

 

"Tell me Pine Tree, am I still in that game DD&D? Sixer was so nice to pitch this form as a character in the game," Bill asked with an innocent smile as he placed the radio next to them so that the Pines family could hear everything.

Dipper nodded fearfully, not daring to say that Bill had actually been banned for being overpowered. His arm was definitely broken.

"Wonderful, now, tell me. What do you have to roll to hit me?" the demon asked and rolled the dice dexterously around between his long, spidery claw like fingers. The tone made Dipper feel nervous.

 

"14 or more," the brunette boy replied, not liking where this was going. The demon's grin widened, his golden eyes half-lidded and slightly narrow.

"Well then, if you roll 14 or more, " Bill said, embellishing his words by showing his prey the side 14, "well...you'll get to go home."

 _Is he kidding me? C...could he actually be serious?_ Dipper thought. Bill's golden eyes flashed dangerously with possessive look in them when the Pines boy glanced at the radio, wanting to hear what his family had to say, but Ford, Stanley nor Mabel stayed silent. A spark of hope budded inside him.

“Really?” Dipper asked while holding his broken arm, the renewed hope actually reflecting in his eyes. It had to be like drug to the malicious nightmare demon.

“Of course! Now I admit I got a bit angry there, but you've been a good sport! So I thought you deserve a small chance of getting home,” Bill replied with a wide grin, eyes narrowed. “Gambling is such a thrill after all...”

Yet, fear got mixed into the hope when Cipher continued.

"But, 13 or less..." the demon said and turned the dice again in his dexterous claw, "I'll take you with me."

Dipper took the red dice from Bill with trembling hands and he was afraid that he might drop it onto the floor and it would count as a roll.

"Well?" the demon purred and waited patiently.

The radio was silent next to them, yet both the kid and the demon knew that the Pines family was listening, waiting for the results while unable to help Dipper in any way. All they could offer him were words of encouragement and comfort, neither which could do anything to save him from a fate awaiting him.

Dipper let the dice fall from his hands onto the dust covered floor and it rolled gracefully, each bounce making the boy's heart leap. Dipper closed his eyes, not wanting to see how the dice rolled and jumped on the floor, but eventually he had to open his eyes when the dice came to a halt.

The hope that had budded inside Dipper grew slightly when he heard the demon let out a small. "Huh?"sound.

The Pines boy opened his eyes to see the dice on the floor read “16".

"Dipper?" Mabel's trembling voice asked and Dipper actually smiled, feeling actually happy.

"Its 16 Mabel," he replied, wanting to add, 'I'm going to return home.'

But, whatever hope that had bloomed inside Dipper's soul was shred to pieces when he lifted his gaze to meet Bill's. The demon was smiling at him, and that smile only widened and widened until he was grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat and looked just as insane.

"The one thing you should know about me already by now Pine Tree..." Bill started and leaned closer so that his lips almost touched Dipper's, "is that rules do not apply to me."

The Pines boy's blood ran cold and he could barely breathe. He could see glimpse of the window and his home that lied beyond it, but...he knew already that he was not going to return home.

Dipper couldn't move and his whole body started trembling as Bill let his sharp fingers graze against the boy's temple, brushing few of the brunette hair locks behind the boy's ear. “You are mine~” the demon almost giggled.

Before Dipper could say a word, Bill wrapped his long and slender arms around his body, almost crushing the boy against his tall form.

"NO! Let me go home. I won!" Dipper yelled in pure fear and desperation, trying to get out of the demon's hold but he was too tired and weak.

"Bill, you will let my nephew go this instant! You don't want him!" Ford kept yelling, fear and desperation now evident in his tone. “I'm willing to make any deal you want! Anything!”

"Give my brother back, you can't take him, you horrible demon!" Mabel shrieked and by the sounds of it she was crying her heart out. Her breaking voice was followed by Stanley's angry barking. "No demon is going to take my grand nephew from me! Release him!"

But, none of the Pines family could do anything and Bill and Dipper both knew it. All they were able to do was bear witness through the radio. Heck, they couldn't even see what was going on, what was happening to Dipper who was becoming hysteric due to fear. Mabel, Ford and Stanley had to listen how the scared and hopeless sick boy had to endure his fate with no one there to help him.

"I don't want to go to your realm Bill! Please, just please let me see Mabel again," Dipper pleaded and cried while trying his all to get out of Bill's hold. “I want to go home!”

Cipher cackled softly as he held his captive close to him so that Dipper could see the window and the portal over his shoulder. His captive's home was so close, but he'd never reach it...he'd never see his sister again, or feel his family's hugs or love. Cipher smiled with a possessive and cruel look in his golden eyes as he ran his long, sharp nailed fingers through Dipper's soft brunette hair.

"It will be your new home, Pine Tree," the demon said mirthfully as he tightened his hold onto the boy who was trembling in fear, as if to comfort him. "You'll love it there. All you need is couple of years to get used to it. My friends are already waiting for you, and I'm sure they'll love you."

The shadows rustled and the angles of the room became all wrong as the world started to collapse on itself. The crossroads dimension had served its purpose and was now getting destroyed with them inside it. Once gone, Bill would pull his prey into his own realm.

"Mabel!" Dipper cried out and his family kept calling for him through the radio, trying to stay with him and comfort him until the end. Yet, knowing that this was the last time he'd ever hear their voices again made Dipper only more scared and hopeless. He was crying now, not even trying to control himself anymore.

Bill's smile turned truly hideous when he felt the boy cling onto him, clearly ready comfort from anything in his moment of terror and fear.

"I want to see my sister one last time, please."

Bill caressed the back of Dipper's head, as if comforting a scared child. He then lifted the pre teen slightly so that Dipper was actually sitting in this lap. Cipher was pretty much leering from ear to ear, having destroyed all hope his little prey had of returning home. He'd be the only one for the kid and after this, Pine Tree would certainly give in quickly and accept his fate as his pet and toy.

Yet, the demon's expression turned somewhat vexed when Pine Tree's family kept yelling from the real world, trying to comfort the boy or demand Bill to release him. The family had served its purpose. He had no longer any use for them.

"Don't! Bill please! Don't take them from me," Dipper pleaded when Bill picked the radio with his hand and crushed it without any effort, silencing the boy's family for good. The plastic pieces along with the broken components fell onto the floor one by one. It almost felt like the radio had been embodiment of his family and had been killed by Bill.

_I'll never hear them again._

"Ugh, your family is so annoying," Bill muttered and smiled when Dipper started crying and actually held tightly onto the demon's tall and lanky body. He had never been so scared in his life. Shadows licked their bodies as the world became darker and darker around them.

With the radio gone and destroyed, it was just the demon and the kid in the pocket realm that was quickly being eradicated. Dipper could hear low rumbling sound as the world crumbled and fell into abyss. Soon enough Mystery Shack was the only thing left, an island in pitch black sea of nothingness, standing on the verge of oblivion and void.

Bill pulled slightly from the hug to look Dipper into eyes, his hand brushing some of the hair off the boy's forehead to reveal the constellation birthmark.

"You are mine now, star child," the demon laughed and nuzzled Dipper's forehead ever so gently with his own as the room dismantled around them piece by piece. "My perfect little pet.”

Dipper sobbed and looked into Bill's golden eyes all scared as the shadows coiled around his form, pulling him with Bill into his world. The demon' took a firm grip of the boy's warm body, pulling him into the darkness with him.

Last thing Dipper saw was Bill's golden eyes before the demon let go of him, letting the kid fall freely into the blackness of the void, alone and scared with no one to catch or comfort him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry Dipper! I'm sure I'll treat you better in the future so that you get happy endings! *looks at other stories and the upcoming one shots" Actually scratch that...  
> Does this chapter feel a little weak? I'm not satisfied with it no matter what I do with it.  
> Gonna write an epilogue to this. I think I made Bill a bit too psychotic here...


	8. Welcome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, this was originally a 10k chapter but I decided to cut it to make it more manageable. This happens again. "One more chapter :)" and then I conjure 3 more from some nightmare realm.

 

The silence inside the Mystery Shack was unbearable, yet none of the Pines family members dared to end it, because if they did, they'd have to face the cold and cruel facts.

Discussing the situation was simply too painful. Bill had dragged Dipper into his nightmarish world where the boy would have to spend the rest of his days as the demon's plaything. They'd never hear his voice or see his face again. The boy was lost to this world.

Mabel had lost her twin, and their parents a child.

To her, the mere thought of her brother being trapped in some hostile and strange dimension all alone with no hope of getting home felt agonizing and unbearable. It made her want to scream and deny the demon. This all had to be some one big nightmare she would wake up from any moment. Dipper would be there and they'd laugh about it.

 _Dipper is the most important person in my life,_ Mabel thought as the terror started to overwhelm her. It gripped her heart in suffocating manner. It was a feeling she was not used to. _Something like this just can't happen. Not to him, not to me._

Mabel wanted nothing more than to escape into her mind and the fantasy worlds she had created over the years because she simply couldn't face the cruel world where her brother didn't exist anymore. But, with Dipper gone, those worlds started to slowly die and crumble, falling into death and decay. It was because almost all of her happy memories involved her brother in some way or another.

 _Dipper has always been there for me, even if I constantly fail to support him and take his wishes to consideration. No one understands me better than him, and now he is gone_ , Mabel thought as large warm tears started trail to down her face. She didn't even notice them as she closed her eyes and held her head, hands over ears, wanting to block out the world and all the noise in it.

_I will never see Dipper again. If I had just played that game with him, maybe this wouldn't have happened. For once I could have been there for him!_

"Ford..." Stanley said quietly, finally ending the silence that had went on for many minutes. It had become simply too unbearable for him. Mabel had started sobbing quietly and shaking her head, somehow trying to keep herself together.

“Someone please say this is just a bad dream,” the girl pleaded and sobbed quietly. She just couldn't wrap her head around what had occurred. Something like this just couldn't happen to her or Dipper. Mabel knew that her brother's last words would keep haunting her for the rest of her life. He had been so scared and hopeless.

Dipper's weak voice had been filled with fear as he had pleaded Bill not to break the radio. After that, only silence had filled the radio channel, leaving the Pines family guessing what had happened next, even though it was obvious.

Yet...the small uncertainty would gnaw at her soul for the rest of her life if she couldn't get assurance that her brother was alive. What if that demon really had killed Dipper?

Stanford looked beaten, shocked and utterly hopeless. He could have endured this fate had Bill forced him into the nightmare realm due to the grudge, but instead, that damn demon had taken his nephew with no intentions of giving him back. Dipper was Bill's trophy now, one that served to torment the whole family, especially him.

“Mabel, I'm so sorry about everything. I failed you and your brother,” Stanford said quietly, his hands on the table. Although the researcher looked calm and collected, Stanley could see how his brother's hands trembled in hopeless rage he felt towards the triangle demon. Ford had never felt this powerless. He had been completely useless to Dipper who now couldn't get home. It all made him want to yell, but what good would it do? He had lost. “I'm afraid that this is all real.”

However, Ford was not the only one who was angry.

Stanley was seething in rage, but unlike his brother, his rage was not controlled. It was clear that the conman wanted to hunt down the demon and tear Dipper back from that world no matter what it took.

“Ford...” Stanley repeated in his gruff voice, the burning anger evident in his tone. “Do something! There has to be something, anything!"

"There is nothing I can do anymore!” Stanford snapped at Stanley, losing control over himself. “Bill took Dipper to his dimension, I simply can't bring him back from there!" he continued angrily. “The only way for him to come back is if a tear appears between our realms! But that would give Bill a chance to enter our world as well, and that is something I can't let come to pass. Besides, there is no certainty that Bill would let Dipper go.”

Mabel lost all control over herself and started crying, not wanting to believe what had happened to her brother. She kept repeating Dipper's name in despair and pleaded the demon to give him back to her as the two brothers kept arguing.

A part of her wanted to just fall asleep and see if the triangle demon would come to try and strike some deal with her. Mabel knew, that should Bill appear, she'd be willing to sell her soul and do anything the demon asked to see her brother again.

"Give him back to me, I want to see Dipper again. You can't do this to us," she whispered and wiped her tears into the sleeves of her pink sweater with a picture of a smiling cupcake on it. How could she face the future without him and grow up all alone. It was something she couldn't bear to think about.

"You are the brainiac in this family Stanford!! This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been fooled by Bill in the first place!" Stanley yelled now, not even trying to keep his voice down for Mabel's sake. "Do something about this! There has to be something you can do!"

"My fault?" Ford asked quietly, almost snarling.

It looked like the relationship between the two brothers was at its breaking point once more.

"May I remind you that you did very poor job keeping Dipper and Mabel from trouble?! If Dipper had not found my journals, Bill wouldn't have set his eyes...well, eye on him! If it wasn't for _you_ , Dipper wouldn't have caught his attention.”

"Well if he hadn't found the journal, you wouldn't be here either!" Stanley argued, making his brother roll his eyes and scoff angrily.

“Me being here has nothing to do with this! Bill might have taken him either way,” Ford shot back. “It was your responsibility to make sure he was safe.”

The two of them were arguing like children, pushing the blame onto the other.

Before the two aging twins could turn the verbal arguing into a physical one with fists, Mabel looked at both of them with desperate look in her eyes.

"Is there really nothing you can do uncle Ford? There has to be something you've been working on," the brunette girl asked. “Some way to tear a rip into the dimension that would give us a chance to get my brother back. Even...even if it is risky.”

Ford felt uneasy when both his brother and niece looked at him. The researcher couldn't help but think of the inter dimensional rift contained inside the orb. He had locked it away into his study into a place no one would ever find it. With him and Dipper...and of course Bill being the only beings aware of it, Mabel and Stanley had no idea about its existence and now it looked like he needed to keep it that way.

"You know of something, don't you?”" Mabel asked when her great uncle hesitated. She could see it in Ford's eyes. He was furiously thinking of something, battling with himself, weighting the pros and cons.

After a moment of heavy silence, Ford finally sighed heavily and said,

“No”, crushing any hopes Mabel might have had.

The reply made Mabel stand up and slam her small hands against the table, making the both adults flinch. The girl's eyes were burning with determination born from her desire to see her brother once more.

"You are lying!” she yelled, eyes filled with anger and betrayal. “We can come up with a plan to send Bill back to his realm when he and Dipper are here!"

"Ford, if there is something you can do, do it!," Stanley agreed with Mabel, but the bullheaded researcher shook his head, even if he was clearly tempted. The risk was just too great. If they failed, they would lose the whole universe in addition to Dipper.

'"It is too great of a risk! I'm not going to doom the whole world! I know it is painful, believe me I know, but the price is too high, and there is no guarantee that Bill will let Dipper go. Heck, he might not even let him come to our realm!"

Mabel stared at Ford with angry and defiant look in her eyes.

"I'm not leaving Gravity Falls until I have my brother back. I don't care how many years it takes or if I have to move here, I am not going back. Tell that to my parents. "

With that, the girl stormed out of the room and up the stairs to cry, yet all she could think of was how her brother had been in that room in the other world.

Stanley looked at Stanford with an angry, hurt and disappointed look on his face. It looked like Mabel was in the same position he had been all these decades, trying to search for a lost twin. Yet, for some reason, Stanley felt like Dipper would be much more thankful than Ford.

 

* * *

 

Countless shadows watched and waited around Dipper's small form, observing whether the strange thing would wake up or not. Some of the smaller shadows with red dots for eyes reached curiously towards the unconscious child with their claws, yet the moment the boy let out a soft whimper and started to come to, the shadow creatures dispersed, leaving the kid to the master of this chaotic realm.

 

The young human curled up slightly on the cold dark ground, coughing a bit before finally opening his eyes to meet the new world he had fallen into.

A part of him soon wished that he had never woken up from his dreamless state,

“Where am I?” Dipper muttered as he gazed at his surroundings to see where he had ended up in.

The last thing he could remember was Bill letting go of him and watch him fall into the dark abyss. He had felt numerous black tendrils wrap around his body, pulling him underneath a black surface and suffocating him until he had passed out and woken up here.

“This...this is nightmare realm, isn't it?” the young Pines boy asked in disbelief as he took a good look at his surroundings.

Even though everything was dark, the ground beneath him felt like a forest floor with grass, leaves and earth, but it all felt cold to his touch.

Dipper's assumption that he was in some sort of a forest was only enforced when he saw numerous tall black shadows with material form rise from the ground around him. The roots of those trees covered the forest floor and the Pines boy let out a small fear filled gasp when he felt one of them move. It was as if the shadows had a will of their own.

When Dipper finally looked upwards to see just how tall those trees were, his heart skipped a beat.

It was the most beautiful and terrifying sky he had ever seen.

The whole sky was a mixture of blood red and purple, swirling and mixing together in an unnatural manner.

The atmosphere felt oppressing and suffocating. Dipper couldn't help but cough loudly and gasp for air that made him feel only sicker if that was even possible anymore. It looked like this place was even more dangerous than the crossroads realm.

 

 _Wonder how long I've been here,_ the Pines boy though as he felt his arm that was tender to touch. _Or if time even has meaning here._

Dipper dug his fingers slightly into the cold and lifeless black ground as he fought his way up into a sitting position, only to hiss and grit his teeth in pain. His right arm hurt like hell and it was too painful to move it properly.

Cold sweat coated the boy's whole body thanks to pain and high fever that burned his body and mind.

 _My arm is broken, is has to be,_ Dipper realized and stared fearfully at his limb that was bruised, swollen and tender.

Bill had not been gentle with him after eviscerating one of his 3 eyes. He could still feel the demon's full weight on his small arm, applying pressure until it was too much for the bone to bear, fracturing it.

 

“I just want to go home” _,_ Dipper whispered in despair and tried to recall what the warm summer sun felt like on his skin, or what it was like to be in his sister's comforting embrace. “Mabel...”

The demon's and his uncles words echoed in his mind, reminding of the terrible fate that had found him. Once in Bill's world, there was no going back...but there were still worse things that could happen to him, things that Bill was going to do for sure.

“I want to see you, mom and dad again,” Dipper cried, the high fever making him almost delirious. “I want it more than anything in the world.”

Everything was so cold, so dark...and he was all alone. He'd give anything to embrace Mabel, and his parents one last time to tell how much they all meant to him and how sorry he was for causing them so much pain.

Dipper held his arm and sobbed quietly.

_What did I do to deserve this? Why not someone else?_

He didn't even have his backpack anymore. The only thing he had that could remind him of Mabel, his Great Uncles and Gravity Falls was his baseball cap.

 

The hunger and thirst were becoming unbearable, making the boy tried to look around for anything that could be even remotely edible in this dark world, but all he saw was a small sanguine red stream a short distance away from him.

To the desperate kid, it almost looked drinkable...almost. It would have been ok if it didn't remind him too much of human blood. Drinking it would probably kill him or worse. He simply wasn't meant to be in Bill's realm.

 _This realm is even more horrifying than the crossroads one,_ the boy thought before crawling over to a large shadow tree with his last strength. Dipper rested his back against the cold trunk of the tree and just watched the burning skies.

The fever was burning his body and mind, making him delirious and too weak to even think straight anymore. It seemed like this was as far as he could go. He simply didn't have anything left to give.

 _I lost this game_ , Dipper thought as he stared at the shadows with hazy eyes. _There is no winning against Bill_. Speaking of the demon, for some reason Cipher was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he?” Dipper murmured and hugged his legs slightly, trying to stay warm but it did no good. The Pines boy started to fear that the demon had grown bored with him already now that he had pulled him into his world, that he had just left him to die all alone.

"Cipher?" Dipper asked weakly and a part of him wished the demon to be there so that he wouldn't be alone. _I don't want to die here._ The boy thought and it really felt like he didn't have much time left.

“Please Bill, I don't want to die all alone,” the boy whispered and held his head. “Don't leave me here...” he added, only to suddenly hear movement around him.

"Huh?" the small human let out and turned to see if it was Bill, only to realize that he was facing a group of demons he had never seen before.

If the boy had had any color left on his face, it would have disappeared the moment he saw 9 demons staring at him with baffled looks on their faces. However, to Dipper's terror that confusion got quickly replaced by malicious intent and playfulness.

"My, what have we here? A human?" said a purple demon that was undoubtedly a female. She had a single eye just like Bill.

Dipper's eyes widened in terror as he watched the 9 demons quickly circle him and tower over him in menacing manner. They all either too many eyes, too few, or none at all! Well few actually had 2, but one of them had 8 balls in the sockets.

"What should we do with it Pyronica?" one that was only teeth asked from the purple haired demoness who stepped forward, towering over the young boy.

All Dipper could do was hold his arm and stare at the demons who had surrounded him and trying to decide what to do. He couldn't escape anymore and all he could wish for was a painless end if they decided to end his life.

"It is kinda cute." The purple demoness said and without a warning grabbed Dipper's broken arm to pull him up onto his feet.

The group looked somewhat startled when the Pines boy let out a yelp of pain and almost fainted.

"Mmm?" The one eyed demon let out when she saw Dipper's arm and how bruised it was. "Tsk, it is already broken, what a killjoy! I don't' want to play with broken toys. Xanthar do you want this?"

"Maybe we should tear the broken arm off and replace it with something else?" the one with 8 balls as eyes suggested and the rest cackled menacingly, clearly loving the idea.

"Oh, I like that! Lets sew a snake on it! That'll be fun. Maybe it will bite the boy."

Dipper trembled and all he could do was stare at Pyronica who leered at him.

"Bill! Please help me," Dipper pleaded the demon to appear and stop these other monsters from hurting him. He was ready to sell his soul to Cipher if he just ended his torment. “I'll do anything!”

All Dipper wanted this emotional and physical pain to stop, but he was afraid of death and wanted to cling to life no matter what. In his heart, the young boy hoped that Bill had not left him to die here, that the demon wanted to have him, even if he also dreaded that. What kind of life would it be?

Suddenly, the darkness was pushed aside by a bright golden light and Bill appeared in his triangle form, grabbing Dipper from Pyronica so that he held him against his triangle body, one long black arm around Dipper's waist.

"Whoa whoa, Pyronica, hands off!" Bill cackled mirthfully as he hovered above his hench maniacs. "This one is mine, remember guys?" the demon said and flicked the feverish boy's forehead almost painfully, making the boy wince. “Let me introduce you to the gang.”

Despite his fears, the sick and almost delirious boy couldn't help but feel slightly relieved when he felt the demon hold him.

 _I can't believe I'm actually happy to see him,_ Dipper thought as he felt the triangle demon's smooth surface against his skin. It still felt cold, almost painful, but the eerie golden light...it was so beautiful and comforting. There was something so wrong about it and he knew that Cipher was the source of all his pain.

"Pine Tree, hench maniacs, hench maniacs, Pine Tree," Bill introduced him to the nine demons who leered and eyed him maliciously. Their expressions told Dipper that he was not going to enjoy his stay here.

 

Bill tightened his hold around Dipper when he saw how his little captive was having trouble staying awake.

 _I didn't know Bill's golden light could be so nice, even if there is nothing warm about it,_ the pines boy thought, starting to close his eyes slightly. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

The 9 demons could see that the human child was succumbing to the realm and his sickness.

“Well well well, looks like our little guest can't endure our realm much longer,” Bill laughed and pinched Dipper's arm slightly to keep him awake.

“Guys, I'll catch you later...but before we go, why don't we give Pine tree, our newest freak here, a big welcome.”

Dipper sniffled slightly as he gazed at the demons who all grinned at him in malicious manner.

“Welcome to nightmare realm, kid, hope you'll enjoy your stay,” they said in unison before starting to cackle, only to have Bill join them.

The golden triangle demon lifted Dipper up, holding him in front of him so that the scared and sick boy was forced to stare into his single eye.

“Because you are going to stay here forever.”

With that, the demon teleported away with his prey.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter left, I promise. Not Much Bill and Dipper in this one but the next chapter will be all about them. Wanted to end Mabel's, Stanley's and Ford's story line here. Though Mabel does leave some nice opportunities here.


	9. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is done!

Dipper let out a pained gasp when the golden demon released his hold and let him fall once more.

 _Where are we now?_ The feverish Pines boy found himself wondering as he studied his surroundings. It looked like Bill had brought him to a middle of a small clearing that was surrounded by ancient tall dark willow trees. The green grass beneath felt somewhat soft to Dipper's touch, even if the long blades were just as cold as everything else in this twilight realm. The sky was a mixture of purple and red, giving the whole area an eerily beautiful look.

Golden and red fireflies danced among the leaves and illuminated the area in a way that made Dipper wonder if this was actually just some fever dream he was having.

 _It is quite beautiful..._ Dipper found himself thinking and for a fleeting moment, all the hazy eyed boy could do was stare at the mesmerizing sight before him.

The contrast between the gold and dark was absolutely stunning and hypnotizing. It made him want to just lie down and watch those cold lights until he'd fall asleep, even if he wouldn't wake up. There was something very wrong about the beautiful scene and it was clear that everything was dangerous to him.

Dipper lifted his gaze when Bill hovered closer to him and the demon seemed to be very satisfied.

"Well, what did you think of my realm? Pretty nice don't you think? This area is my favorite,” The demon asked and laughed manically, circling the boy a couple of times. ”Sorry about leaving you all alone back there, but I thought it would be a good idea for you to get to know your new home for a moment while I got everything ready for you, Pinetree," Bill said mirthfully, yet the demon's tone suggested that he had wanted to see his prey and prisoner suffer in the darkness of his world, overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty of what was to come.

Dipper didn't have any words for Bill and just sat there holding his bruised and broken arm, his eyes slightly downcast. He had never been so afraid of someone before. The demon was in total control and Dipper didn't even want to think what the malicious being had planned for him.

“What are you going to do to me?” Dipper asked weakly, but Cipher didn't bother to reply and merely hovered closer, his single eye fixated on the boy's broken limb.

Without a warning, the triangle demon summoned his black cane and poked the broken arm, making the human child whimper in discomfort and pain.

"Ok ok I'll admit it, I might have underestimated my strength there. I don't visit that form too often," the golden demon scoffed before lifting Dipper's chin up with the end of his cane to force the pre-teen to look into his single eye. Bill then patted the tired and scared kid's cheek a couple of times in almost loving manner, his eye narrowed in a way that told Dipper that he was smiling.

"Sheesh, don't look so damn miserable Pine Tree! After I'm done with you, that arm will heal in no time,” the demon laughed and took hold of Dipper's bruised and slightly swollen arm, turning it in ways that felt uncomfortable, almost painful. “I can bend and break it from every single joint and you'll be fine.”

To Dipper's terror, Cipher seemed tempted to actually do it.

“Bill, I don't want to be here,” Dipper whispered fearfully and was ready to give anything, to strike any sort of a deal to get back home. He just couldn't accept the fact that there was no going back, that he'd spend an eternity in this horrible world. “I can't stay here...I want to see my family again, please,” the sick, almost delirious child whimpered miserably.

The fire that had burned inside Dipper had been extinguished almost completely after what had occurred at the crossroads realm. Bill had just toyed with him, giving him hope, only to crush it beneath his heel and laugh.

“Home sick already? My, you are just hilarious Pine Tree. For such a smart kid you really are surprisingly dense and stupid,” the demon mocked Dipper who was scared to death. “How many times do I have to tell it to you? You'll never see your family again,” Cipher continued taunting his prey and caressed his birth mark. “I'm all you have now and you belong to me.”

Dipper let out a small whimper when the demon touched him again, that pitch black hand caressing his birth mark, sharp nails trailing from dot to dot.

“But, I guess I could ease your pain,” Bill added maliciously before snapping his fingers.

The feverish and exhausted boy had to shield his eyes when his captor shone brightly for a few brief seconds, his form changing. When that light faded away, instead of a triangle, Dipper saw a human, or more precisely, a mockery of one. Still, it was much more pleasant and comforting to look at than the nightmarish version he had encountered in the crossroads realm.

The sight was almost breath taking. Never in his life had Dipper seen something that looked so elegant and unsettling at the same time.

Cipher's eyes and hair were the most beautiful hue of gold and his ears were slightly pointy. The only thing that reminded the boy of his nightmarish version were the pitch black claw like hands and the slightly sharper teeth that could leave nasty mark should the demon decide to bite him. If Dipper had to guess what age Bill was in human years, he'd say around 20-25.

"Huh?" was all Dipper could say as he stared at the humanoid demon before him who was dressed in black outfit and golden tailcoat, looking elegant and dapper. T blond he demon flaunted his fancy outfit before Dipper whose body was scraped and bruised, his clothes slightly torn and dirty.

After a moment, Bill grinned from ear to ear and the look in his shining golden eyes was borderline malicious.

The mind demon could feel a shiver of excitement run down his spine as he gazed at the sick and weak boy before him, it was a sight that was absolutely intoxicating to the demon. Now that he had pulled his prey into his nightmarish world, no one would be able to help him. Given time, the boy would become a loyal and loving pet and companion to him, one he'd cherish and take care of. First of course, he'd have to make sure his world didn't kill the stupid child.

"Do you like this form Pine Tree? Admit it, you like it!” Bill said with a wide leer on his face, his golden eyes fixated on Dipper's hazy ones. “Since you are never going to see your family again, I thought this would cheer you up," the demon continued to mock his prisoner who was trembling yet unable to look away.

To Dipper it felt like Bill was rubbing salt into his wounds by assuming a human look.

“We are going to celebrate your arrival here...well at least I am. I even put on my best set of clothes just for this occasion!"

Dipper didn't know what he could say...or should. Cipher was at the same time both radiant and daunting, yet beneath that glamorous look was a terrifying demon Dipper had seen a glimpse of during his time in the crossroads realm. He would never forget what he had seen, into what kind of a monster Bill could turn into if he was angered.

“My, you are speechless, I like it,” Bill laughed and ran his hand through his blond and black hair, only to remember something.

The smile on his face turned playful and somewhat cruel.

“Oh I almost forgot Pine Tree,” the nightmare demon said maliciously and snapped his fingers once more.

The brunette kid gasped in discomfort when blue magical collar appeared around his neck with a long thin chain attached to it. It wasn't tight enough to make it really uncomfortable, but he could feel it being there.

Even with his fever addled mind, the boy knew that the collar and chain were there to just show him whom he belonged to. It was a way for Bill to taunt and tease him, a constant reminder of whom he belonged to..

The young man played with the long thin blue chain, pulling it slightly to make Dipper feel the collar tug slightly and press against his skin.

“Now I know these aren't really necessary,” the demon mocked the young Pines boy and crouched down in front of him with a creepy smirk playing on his lips, “but I just love to see you like this, unable to escape me no matter what~”

 

 

Dipper wasn't sure how long he was going to hang in there. Every bone in his fever ridden body ached and he was sure his head was going to split.

A smug and somewhat dreamy smile formed on Bill's lips as he caressed the boy's soft hair with his claw like hand. Dipper flinched and swallowed when he felt the demon's cold touch.

“Don't touch me...” her whispered weakly but Bill ignored his wish.

He feared Bill and what made the whole situation even more dreadful was how he couldn't even stand up.

The blond man tilted his head slightly to the side, loving the sight before him. He could see how Dipper's mind was racing.

“I can see it in your eyes, Pine Tree, that desperate desire to be saved by your loved ones,” Cipher laughed and eyed Dipper with a mocking look on his face. “No one will save you from me. I won't let them. Should they try, I'll erase them or drive them insane so that they won't even recognize you.”

 _I don't want to die_ , Dipper thought desperately and felt despair grip his heart. He wanted nothing more than to return home to Mabel and his parents. He missed his whole family so bad and he couldn't bear the thought of never seeing his sister again.'

Dipper found himself staring at Bill whose human like appearance felt so comforting that it made him _almost_ forget what kind of a monster lied beneath those handsome looks.

The blond demon snickered slightly and leaned closer.

“Your useless small body is at its limit, isn't it? Unless we do something about it, you'll die,” Bill mused and seemed to enjoy the situation immensely. He loved the power he held over Dipper. It was like drug to him he couldn't get enough of. “You don't want that, do you, Pine Tree? Tell me that you want me to save you~” the demon purred dangerously. “I'll make the pain, hunger and cold go away if you ask nicely.”

 

Bill's golden eyes widened slightly in surprise when the boy moved with his last strength to hug him. Dipper wrapped his arms around the demon's middle and found himself clutching the golden cloth with his hands as he sobbed quietly against Bill's chest, seeking comfort and safety from his captor.

“I...I don't want to die Bill,” Dipper whispered against the human formed demon, wishing that the blond would be satisfied with him acknowledging his victory. “I don't want to be here, I've had enough! You've won, isn't that enough for you? Just please let me go home and back to my family,” Dipper continued, almost losing all control over himself. He had been so scared and close to death with Bill's friends that he was willing to do anything.  
_There has to be something he can do to send me home...I'm not from this dimension. I don't belong here._

A soft cackle escaped the demon's lips as he just took hold of Dipper once more and lifted him up onto his arms in almost protective manner.

“Do you honestly think I'd be satisfied with just that?,” Bill inquired. “I won and that means everything about you belong to me, Pine Tree. Your body, mind...even your soul is mine,” The demon whispered as he carried Dipper over to the stone table and the almost throne like chair.

Bill sat down on the large throne like chair and held Dipper sideways in his lap, supporting him slightly with his arm. The pre-teen almost closed his eyes when he rested his head against Bill's chest. Even though the embrace was cold and mocking, he found it comforting in some sick and perverse way. There was no real comfort or warmth in Cipher's hold and it felt mocking, malicious even.

“I can't take this anymore,” the Pines boy said weakly and had hard time staying conscious. “I miss Gravity Falls.”

 _At least Bill is with me, he didn't leave me alone_ , Dipper thought and could feel the the young man's claw like hand caress his pale, tear stained cheek.

 

"I know I know...I put you through a lot, Pine Tree," Bill said with a soft laugh as he slightly lifted Dipper's chin up so that he could get a proper look at the scared, heartbroken child. “But it is all over now. There is no point or need for you to struggle anymore.”

The golden eyed demon smiled dreamily as he stared deep into Dipper's eyes before brushing his thumb against the boy's lips, parting them slightly.

“I can't wait to turn your eyes golden, Pine Tree...you'll look so lovely. Once I've done that, you'll truly be part of my world and everyone will know whom you belong to.”  
The boy blinked in fear and trembled slightly, clearly imagining himself like that, trapped in this dark realm.

“No...”

"Oh, I do love that scared expression of yours so much,” the demon purred and caressed his prey's face. ”Not such brave or headstrong anymore huh?”

 

After his little breakdown, Dipper had hard time looking Bill into eyes and tried to avert his gaze, but the demon grasped his jaw almost painfully and forced him to keep the eye contact.

“Don't look away,” the demon whispered, clearly enjoying the expression of utter despair and hopelessness his prey had in his hazy eyes that had lost their shine.

 

"Such a lovely look indeed. After all the fighting and struggling, seeing some honest fear and defeat in your eyes is such a thrill," Bill whispered darkly, only to try Dipper's forehead with his black claw like hand. He grinned.

 

"Oh dear, you are burning...are you still with me?" Bill inquired from the boy who was barely hanging in there. He tapped Dipper's forehead a couple of times with his fingers to get the boy's attention once more. His little prisoner kept constantly spacing out and was clearly starting to succumb to the high fever.

"Well, better get you fixed before my world becomes too much for you to endure. I wouldn't want to lose my favorite toy right away.”

 

Dipper watched how Bill conjured a beautiful tall crystal glass into his pitch black hand. It was filled with dark red liquid and by first glance it could be wine, but after seeing that dark red river, the boy suspected that it was actually water from this realm.

 _It reminds me of blood,_ Dipper thought and could feel anxiety grip his heart. Ford's words echoed in his mind, reminding him that if he embraced Bill's world, he'd be tied to the demon. He'd never be free of him.

"Here, drink this,” the demon said with gleaming and hungry look in his golden eyes. The gentle yet dark smile on his face told Dipper that he probably shouldn't do it. “It will numb the pain and make you feel better. You'll survive and won't suffer anymore, I promise~”

 

"No, I don't want any," Dipper whispered quietly and shook his head in fear and refusal when the demon offered the glass to him.

It was an answer Bill had expected. The small possessive and malicious smile on his face widened slightly.

"Well, it seems that we have a problem then. I simply can't let you die, what kind of a master would I be for you if I did?" the demon taunted his prisoner. Cipher's hold on the boy tightened so that Dipper was pressed against the blond's thin and tall form quite tightly.

“Just give up Pine Tree, it is over for you. There is nothing else left but accept my gift,” the demon mocked Dipper who was starting to get slightly hysteric as he stared at the glass and the dark water that looked vile to him. “I will have you one way or another you know. Don't think I can't make your life any less miserable...” Bill whispered and caressed Dipper's cheek in loving manner. “I can make it so much worse for you. You have no idea.”

"I won and you just have to suffer the consequences along with the rest of your family," the nightmare demon taunted his pet before cackling menacingly. "You are my trophy and pet for all eternity. There is no avoiding your fate.”

“Great uncle Ford,” Dipper pleaded. “Help me...please. I want to go home.”

Those words made Bill put the glass onto the white marble table and grip Dipper's chin to force the boy to look into his golden eyes. They were so mesmerizing and intimidating at the same time. It felt as if Cipher was staring into his soul. Dipper had never felt so named and vulnerable.

“Oh, you think he can help you Pine Tree?” Bill asked venomously. “He couldn't even help you out of that crossroads realm.”  
“The rift,” Dipper tried to reason, but his words merely made the blond demon cackle out loud and tighten his hold. Bill pressed his forehead against Dipper's.

"Just how naive and stupid can you be Pine Tree? Don't you get it? The mere fact that he has not done it already is evidence enough that it won't happen. If that old fool wanted to save you, he would have cracked that thing open the moment I pulled you here."

The feverish child grit his teeth and tried to fight the tears that forced their way into his eyes once again. Dipper had thought he had no tears left but as usual, the demon had found a way to hurt him. His mind was in turmoil and thanks to the fever, he started to become delusional.

 _Bill has a point_ , Dipper thought. His words made him feel absolutely hopeless. There was no escape for him.

“Sixer doesn't want to save you, and your family can't do anything. They've left you to my mercy...just accept it and it will be so much easier for you,” Bill whispered against his prisoner's ear in persuasive manner, his sharp nailed fingers caressing the boy's neck and shoulders. “I'll be good to you if you behave.”

Dipper let out a whimper when he felt the demon's sharp black nails dig into his skin in painful manner.

"So, be a good child and do as I say and you don't have to suffer anymore. In time, you'll come to love the madness of my realm and do not want to escape it. You'll embrace it"

Cipher could see it in Dipper's eyes, that look of fear, hopelessness and defeat. It was an intoxicating sight to him, one he couldn't get enough of.

 _I don't want to die, but I don't want lose Mabel_ , Dipper thought desperately as he trembled and shivered in his captor's lap, unable to form any clear thoughts anymore. He was so torn up and hopeless. Bill's touch and embrace made him feel sick and disgusted, but...the days of fever, hunger and thirst had left him weak and willing to do anything to survive, even if it meant giving himself to Bill...but if he did that, he'd lose Mabel.

 _There has to be some middle ground here_ , Dipper thought.

 

“All I want is to see my sister,” the sick child whispered. His spirit was starting to break. “Bill please, I'll take the water it if you just let me see her and my family again,” the boy tried to persuade Cipher who was staring at him with a creepy and terrifying smile on his lips.

"Pine Tree, do I have to spell it out for you? You will never see Shooting Star nor your family again ," Bill repeated with a sickening smile as he offered the glass once more to his pet.

"I will eventually find my way into your world, but I have no intentions of letting you reunite with your family....if they even are still alive," the demon explained and tapped Dipper's cheek with his fingers. “You'll be safe inside a sphere and in a world you will never want to leave. Doesn't that sound wonderful? So just let go of your useless family. I'm the only one you have from now on.”

Cipher brought the glass closer to Dipper's lips.

“Now, lets make you part of my world. There is nothing else left for you anymore and you know it,” the demon whispered sinisterly. “Be mine already.”

The thought of not being able to see Mabel again was just too painful. Her image flashed in his mind and Dipper wanted nothing more than to hug her tightly.

_I won't take it, not if I can't see my sister again. I don't want to die but..I just can't. There has to be something I can do._

“No!” Dipper yelled and slapped the glass away. “I won't!”

Cipher had not expected the boy to lash out anymore and released his hold on the glass. It flew from his hand and hit the sturdy marble table before them and shattered into countless pieces, the red liquid spilling onto the stone.

Bill turned his gaze slowly to look at the shards on the table and picked one up, feeling its sharp edges with his fingers. The look on the blond demon's face was somehow emotionless and ponderous, as if he was thinking of a fitting punishment.

The pre-teen could feel the cold dread grip his heart as he watched Bill slowly turn the shard in his fingers a couple of times, only to stop and shift his golden eyes to meet his hazy ones, the smile on his lips promising never ending nightmares.

 

Bill could easily force him to drink the water and they both knew it. However, it was not necessary, not when Cipher was in total control. If the boy lashed out at him, he'd only make it worse until the child would understand.

And he was going to do just that.

““You know Pine Tree, I don't need to physically force you to drink this, because I have so many other ways to get you to do it willingly,” the demon started and caressed Dipper's cheek gently. ”Speaking of your sister. I'm starting to get kind of sick of you crying after her all the damn time. Shooting Star clearly clouds your reasoning and I just can't have you die because of her,” the demon started with a friendly tone that only made Dipper's heart pound against his chest. “You are so attached to her that it sickens me...I feel like I have to do something about that. ”

“Wh..what are you planning?”

“Remember how you eviscerated my third eye back at the Mystery Shack,” Bill inquired as he dropped the shard onto the grass floor and pointed at his forehead. “And the way you bit me?

Dipper stayed quiet but his silence was answer enough. At that moment he wished he was anywhere else than in Bill's lap.

“That wasn't very nice of you and I have a feeling you still have some backbone I need to remove,” Bill mused and seemed to get more and more excited about something. “I think I have to punish you for this little outburst here, otherwise you will never learn.”

“You broke my arm,” Dipper tried to protest, but the demon silenced the feverish boy by grasping a handful of the kid's thick brown hair and yanking his head back a bit. Dipper didn't even dare to think what Bill was going to do to him. One thing was sure though, it wasn't going to be pleasant.

“That hardly is punishment enough for you,” the golden haired young man scoffed and leaned closer with a wicked grin on his face, as if he was excited about what he was going to do to his little pet.

“Do you recall what I said to your sister after you sank those sharp teeth of yours into my hand?” Cipher asked and couldn't help but grin when his prey's eyes widened in terror. That fearful look made him want to make the boy see nightmares for the rest of his life. “I think that would be a wonderful way to punish and teach you some manners. Effective one too, don't you agree?”

Dipper could barely breathe and at that moment he'd give anything, sell his soul to any other demon or deity just to get away from Bill. Those terrible words echoed in his mind and gripped his heart with cold dread.

” _ **I think I'll mess with his mind until he forgets all about you."**_

The feverish boy started to panic as he stared into his captor's eyes that promised many dark things to him. This was just the beginning of his torment.

”You know, if you had just behaved this wouldn't have been necessary, oh well.”

"No," the boy whimpered and tried to get away but it was all useless.

"Lets get started Pine Tree. I think you'll be much more compliant after I've removed all the unnecessary memories that just take space in your already small mind," Cipher said with a laugh before turning the boy in his lap so that his back was pressed against the demon's chest.

"Bill no! Don't do this! I'm sorry! I'll do anything you want, just please, please don't take my sister from me," Dipper begged and pleaded, starting to get clearly hysteric...yet he no longer had any strength to struggle or fight. Hell, he could barely breathe and he was freezing to his core.

All he could do was endure what Bill was going to do to him.

_I have to do something to prevent this, anything._

“Bill listen, I will make any deal you want.”

Cipher cackled when he heard the boy's pleas, as if he had heard the best joke ever.

"You don't get it, do you?" the golden haired man whispered against Dipper's ear, his breath tickling the boy's pale skin.."Why would I make any sort of a deal with you when I can just take what I want?"

Dipper froze and his eyes widened in terror when he realized that Bill was right. The demon could do anything he wanted and it would be useless to fight and struggle. There was no way out of this hellish nightmare.

“No....Mabel, please help me..” The Pines boy pleaded quietly when he fully understood what was going to happen.

“It will be over soon,” Bill said venomously and rested his chin on Dipper's head. The demon then placed one of his pitch black hands over the boy's eyes, while the other snaked around the pre-teen's chest to keep him in his cold and corruptive hold.

Bill's hand felt cold and almost soothing to the boy whose forehead was burning with fever.

"No! Please I don't want to forget my sister," Dipper cried out and was now hysteric and desperate, but the malevolent demon just kept the bound boy in his hold, loving every moment, every futile and weak struggle his captive still managed to make, yet, they quickly died down.

"Shh, it is ok Pine Tree, you don't need to remember her anymore," Bill whispered almost lovingly as he held his little prey close. “Your sister can't help you, no one can. You belong to me, and I don't share my toys. I'll be your whole world.”

“Mabel, Grunkle Stan...Stanford...” Dipper pleaded someone to save him.”Mom...”

The kid's weak and sorrow filled voice made Bill want to hear more, it was like music.

The demon's graceful claw like hand started to glow with golden hued light as he began to manipulate and pull the memories from the kid's fever addled mind. Being a nightmare and mind demon was so much fun at times.

"Just a bit longer Pine Tree, and don't worry, I'll leave in just enough for you to remember that you have a sister you loved dearly...you just can't recall her face, voice or name," the Cipher whispered lovingly as he held the struggling boy tightly against his body. “It will drive you insane.”

The sick and feverish boy was at his wits end and lashing out with his last strength. Dipper's arm hurt like hell every time he moved it but he refused to let the demon do this to him, he didn't want to lose the memories he had of his sister who was his whole world. However, he soon lost all strength and went limp in Cipher's hold as the headache and pain just became too much to bear.

“Bill...don't,” the scared Pines boy whimpered as tears trailed down his face. “I'll do anything.”

“After this I'm sure you will.”

Slowly but surely, Mabel started to fade from Dipper's mind until he could no longer recall what she looked like, sounded like, or even what her name was. His mind had already been foggy and addled thanks to the fever, but now it felt even worse. He wasn't sure about anything anymore.

Bill grinned as he held the terrified boy in his lap. He was almost done.

Dipper trembled and cried out in pure despair and fear as his memories started to get foggier and foggier until that girl was almost all gone. The events in his life still existed but were shrouded in haze that blocked all details of a person he knew was important to him.

It was infuriating, scary and utterly terrifying feeling but Dipper no longer had any energy to struggle and just endured it, letting the demon work in peace. What made it even worse was how Bill constantly encouraged him and whispered soothingly to him, as if what he was doing was making things better, curing him of something.

"There, all gone," Bill finally whispered and nuzzled Dipper's head in almost loving manner. As he pulled his hand away, a small golden orb containing all those precious memories formed into his hand. The demon quickly pocketed it for safe keeping before his prisoner could notice it.

 

“Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?” Cipher asked from the boy in his lap who was shaking his head a bit, as if to jog his memory and to recall his sister's form, but there was nothing that could bring them back.

Dipper was terrified and having a high fever didn't help at all. He could recall the rest of his family with clarity, but for some reason one person had faded away. He was sure that there had been a girl, his sister who had meant everything to him. But...he just couldn't recall her no matter what.

“Bill, give my memories back...”Dipper whispered as the demon snapped his fingers and in an instant, the shattered glass repaired itself into his hand, the red water filling it once more.

“Why should I? It is so much more fun for me to see you struggle. Besides...” the demon whispered and ruffled the sick boy's hair gently, “I think it will be easier for you too, since you have no reason to pine after her anymore.”

Of course, being a demon Bill had not made Dipper blissfully unaware of Mabel's entire existence. No, he made sure to leave the feelings and emotions he had shared with his sister to make this as painful as possible.

 

Bill's expression was at the same time both terrifying and playful as he held Dipper close.

“Now, if you are a good boy, I might return those precious memories to you in time,” Cipher whispered and offered the glass to the scared, sick and exhausted boy with broken arm. The human child was trembling and clearly in shock. “If you don't do as I say, I can make it a lot worse for you yet, believe me.”

Cipher ran his claw along the boy's arm and whispered.

“I will force this liquid down your throat eventually, but before that, I can make you forget about Sixer, Stanley, Question mark, that red head girl you so fancy....even your parents,” Bill explained, only to grin. “Come to think of it...you don't have that many loved ones in your life...Maybe I should just remove all of them so that you have no one else to remember but me. That would be so much fun.”

 _Bill's right, he will only make things worse for me,_ Dipper thought in defeat, finally accepting the fact that there was no one to save him.

“Would you like that? Not remembering anyone.”

“No...” Dipper sobbed miserably.

“So, will you be a good boy and take the gift I offer you then? It will make you feel so much better,” the demon kept tempting him and finally Dipper nodded in defeat.

_He will just make things worse for me. I can't take this anymore, I don't want to lose more of my loved ones._

“I'll take it, I'll do as you want Bill,” Dipper replied quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper. He wanted to cry and wail in frustration but he had no energy to do even that. “Just please don't make me forget more.”

The golden haired demon smiled darkly and possessively when he heard the kid's answer.

“Good,” Bill purred and let Dipper take the glass from his pitch black claws. He was going to mend the boy's broken body and mind to health, slowly corrupting and changing the child as he did so. “We will turn you into a proper demon yet, just you wait.”

 

 _All I have to do is drink this and it will be over, no more useless strugglin_ g, _no more pain,_ Dipper thought in defeat as he held the glass in his hands that trembled so bad he almost spilled the dark red liquid. He feared that should that happen the demon would punish him again. He was so hungry and thirsty that the liquid looked almost drinkable.

“Will...will you give me back my memories if I do this?”

“Maybe...maybe not...doesn't really matter,” Bill said with a chuckle, and something in his eyes told Dipper that he was not going to give them back. It broke his spirit. “Don't be afraid, it will make you feel good and numbs the pain, both physical and emotional,” Bill said as he watched and waited for Dipper to take his first sip. Seeing the boy struggle and fight with himself was so satisfying. “You'll feel good as new.”

Tears trailed down Dipper's face and his hands trembled. He wanted to remember who that girl was...it was too painful to bear and a part of him wanted to numb the pain somehow.

"You can take solace in the fact that at least now your miserable and meaningless existence has some purpose. What has your family done for you ever anyways?” the demon mocked his pet who was still hesitating a bit.

Dipper felt like he was about to drink poison when he finally brought the glass to his mouth, tilting it to let the crimson liquid past his lips.

Bill's golden eyes were wide and he didn't blink once as he watched his prey take his first and most important gulp of the waters of his realm. The human turned demon was grinning like a Cheshire cat and that grin only widened when Dipper finally swallowed the liquid down, only to start coughing slightly.

"Now there's a good kid. That wasn't so bad, was it?," the demon inquired quietly and leered when Dipper looked ill from the taste.

The young blond man supported his prey slightly and caressed his shoulder and upper arm with his claw like hand and for some reason, those long spidery sharp nailed fingers didn't feel so uncomfortable to Dipper anymore.

The Pines boy had to actually struggle to keep the disgusting liquid down, but as few seconds passed, the taste became actually tolerable, good even. It left him wanting more.

"Don't you feel better already?" Cipher asked gleefully and felt Dipper's forehead with his cool hand, his fingers massaging the birth sign to soothe the boy head ache.

“Yeah,” the sick and feverish boy whispered as he felt the numbness slowly start to take over his body, mind and soul.

"You do realize that there is no going back anymore?" the demon inquired quietly, his golden eyes shining maliciously as he held the pre-teen close. The pines boy had taken his first step onto a dark path, one he couldn't turn back from.

A warm feeling started to spread through Dipper's body, soothing the pain and driving away the coldness. For the first time what seemed like ages, Dipper actually felt better and it made him want more of the water. He hadn't realized just how thirsty he had been.

"Drink it all and you'll feel as good as new," Bill encouraged Dipper, only to cackle softly. "We have all the time in the world for you to recover."

“I'm sure your family wouldn't judge you,” the sadistic demon purred, his hands on Dipper's shoulders. “If anything...I'm sure your sister wouldn't want you to suffer.”

Those words really hurt Dipper, but there was truth to Bill's words

“My family wouldn't want me to suffer,” he repeated Cipher's words quietly and with hazy eyes.

“I'm sure they wouldn't,” Bill laughed, loving every second of this.

After what had felt like an good while, Dipper closed his eyes and drank the sanguine liquid down to the last drop, quenching the unbearable thirst completely. If Dipper had looked up, he would have seen almost a predatory look in the demon's golden eyes.

Cipher knew that his realm's water ad a strong drug like effect on a human body. It would leave his little prisoner all weak, vulnerable and compliant. In time, Dipper would become accustomed to it, but for now...it was going to be a riot to watch.

“You are so sweet, foolish and stupid,” Bill whispered with half lidded eyes as he caressed the boy's neck and chest. “I'm so tempted to just rip you apart, you have no idea. I could do it so easily...but that would be bad manners from me.”

Soon after finishing the water, Dipper's physical pain was replaced with numbness and the emotional one with sweet and blissful emptiness.

The pre-teen's mind was all hazy and cloudy, making it hard to form any sort of complex thoughts. Fever still burned his body, but the pain and bone freezing coldness were gone and replaced by warmth. Even his arm had stopped hurting. It felt like he was floating and it was so wonderful and lovely.

Dipper relaxed fully in his captor's hold as the water started to slowly affect his body, turning him into an inhabitant of this insane world.

“Bill, it is so pretty here,” the drug addled boy whispered as he watched the dancing lights in the darkness. “All that gold...I want to be like that...”

The demon cackled loudly and held the boy close.

“You will in time, your veins will run with liquid gold,” the demon purred, only to notice how his prisoner no longer had trouble breathing. The changes were subtle but fast, barely noticeable to the sick child who would stay like this for a while, probably until his body had adapted enough.

“See? You can breathe easier already,” Bill purred with a dark and hungry look in his eyes as he caressed Dipper's throat to emphasis his words.

“Here, after this, you can rest as long as you like. You won't feel any cold or pain, Pine Tree,” Bill purred as he conjured a golden fruit into his hand that looked like apple. It seemed unnatural and inedible, but the red water had left Dipper's mind addled. “You will be all mine and I can do anything I want to you~”

The blond demon chuckled and watched gleefully as the boy sated his hunger, knowing that he was sealing his fate as he did so.

 

* * *

 

Dipper had hard time keeping his eyes open as he rested in Bill's hold.

After finishing the strange fruit, both the kid's hunger and thirst had been sated, leaving him only with sleep deprivation. A part of Dipper wanted to just curl up in his captor's now warm lap and drift away into sleep.

Bill caressed Dipper's hair in almost affectionate manner had it not been fore the cruel smile on his face, it could have been very comforting. Dipper watched the golden lights that danced among the trees. They were so pretty and soothing, not at all scary like before.

 _I'm so sorry everyone,_ Dipper thought, knowing that he had given himself to the demon. However, for some reason, at that moment it didn't feel so painful.

Dipper sniffled and sobbed slightly as Bill took gently hold of his jaw with his claw like hands, forcing the boy to look up into his golden eyes in order to take a good look at him.

The blond demon brushed few straws of the boy's brown hair away and was clearly searching for something, some small change...but Dipper had no idea what it could be.

When Bill finally saw what he was looking for, he couldn't help but experience pure gloating joy. He watched closely how golden color seep into the boy's iris, like watercolor drop mixing with the previous color, dominating it.

Cipher didn't say anything and merely leered at the boy who looked sleepy and like he didn't fully understand where he was or what was going on anymore.

"Aren't you feeling a lot better, Pine Tree?" Bill inquired and ran his sharp claw gently along the boy's throat. He smiled when the boy closed his eyes and rested his head against his chest, seeking warmth and comfort.

Bill cackled and hugged Dipper so tight that the kid actually let out a small whimper of discomfort.

"You are such a stupid child," Cipher mocked his captive.

The boy was so weak, vulnerable, and the best thing was that he was probably going to stay like this for a good long while before his body had changed enough to accept his world.

"A complete and weak moron...and mine forever."

 

* * *

 

Numerous strange and nightmarish creatures observed Bill from the distance, watching how the powerful demon carried his precious possession to a large elegant king sized bed near the edge of the forest clearing. It rested in the safety of the tall willow trees, the branches closing in around it in protective manner.

Bill's grin couldn't get any wider as he rested the half sleeping boy onto the large bed that seemed completely out of place among all the darkness, red running rivers and burning skies. He had created it just for Dipper.

 

The golden haired young man couldn't help but smile at his pet when he saw the scared look in the drugged boy's hazy eyes. Dipper would soon fall into a nightmare filled sleep and he was clearly trying to stay awake.

Pine Tree was clearly terrified of being so vulnerable, weak and completely under his mercy. If he wanted, he could end the boy's life so easily...all he had to do was squeeze that little throat a bit too long.

The power he held over the kid's life was so intoxicating and Bill knew he'd never get enough of it.

“Don't be afraid, Pine Tree,” the demon said with a cruel smile on his face. “You are in good care.”

His little pet needed rest, a lot of it, before he had the energy to join him and his henchmaniacs. After having enjoyed the glass of water and the strange golden fruit, Pine Tree was no longer in danger of dying, even if he was going to feel miserable after a good sleep.

His body would slowly but surely change to adapt to this world and Bill couldn't wait to see what kind of torment and inner turmoil it would cause the boy.

“I wonder how you will react when you see what starts to happen to you,” Bill mused softly, knowing that his words couldn't quite reach the drugged child. “What you'll say when you see your eyes...”

The boy would be tied to him until he'd get bored of him, if that was even possible.

Bill smiled darkly when his pet curled slightly on the soft covers, clearly welcoming the warm and comforting feeling. The warm, soft bed felt so good and heavenly to Dipper who had been spending days enduring cold and hard surfaces, unable to sleep because of the cold dark and poisonous world.

Bill noticed how the pre-teen's pale and fever ridden body was coated in layer of cold sweat, but he was clearly getting better already. The fever nor the broken arm would not prevent him from sleeping anymore.

"What's happening to me? I feel so strange," Dipper murmured and yawned when the human turned demon pulled the covers over him, letting him experience the warmth and comfort he had so longed for. He felt like he could just sleep for weeks.

Bill chuckled when he saw Dipper take hold of the large white pillow with golden markings on it with both hands and hug it, even if he could just barely move his injured arm. He too ka closer look at the arm and could see that it was still broken, bruised and swollen, yet it showed signs of healing already. The swelling and bruising had faded a bit and Bill knew it was because of the regeneration skill the boy was starting to develop. Within a week or so, the arm would be good as new.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Just sleep tight... you'll wake up into another wonderful nightmare later," Bill said with a smile and for a moment, he just watched Dipper who quickly drifted into sleep.

After a while, Bill found himself caressing Dipper's head with his pitch black claw like hand in almost loving manner, thinking of the wonderful future with his little Pine Tree. The kid was under his total control and it was the most exhilarating feeling the dream demon had felt for a while.

The kid's body would change slowly over time and the first weeks were going to be rough for him, albeit fun to watch.

Dipper's dreams would be filled with nightmares and he would never recall his sister with clarity again. It would taunt him and torment the boy for a good while which was going to be delicious to observe. Eventually it would become too painful to bear and he'd stop trying, letting the remaining memories fade as well.

Bill lied down next to the kid to observe his sleep. The hunt had been a fun game to play, even if he had not anticipated Dipper to lash out at him so violently.

"You were headstrong, I give you that," Bill sighed and poked the sleeping boy's forehead a couple of times just for the fun of it, "but no matter how strong you are, you can't beat me."

The human turned demon couldn't get any smugger when he saw the collared boy twitch and whimper slightly in his sleep, probably experiencing some nightmare.

"I wonder what horrible dreams you are seeing now? Are they about me?" Bill mused, only to laugh and turn onto his back to look at the willows hanging over the bed and the golden butterflies dancing among the leaves.

"Of course they are about me, after all, I'm the one who ruined your life~ I'm the source of your every nightmare from now on,” the demon muttered.

Bill pulled the small golden orb from his tailcoat's pocket and eyed it with a malicious and dreamy smile on his lips. The small round object contained all the memories Dipper had of his precious sister. It was so tempting to break the thing and let those memories fade away forever.

“I wonder...” Bill whispered all dreamily as he started to slowly apply pressure on to the glass from all sides, only to stop before it cracked.

Cipher scoffed and shook his head slightly. If he was going to do this, he wanted Pine Tree to witness it. It was a punishment he'd use if he really wanted to break the boy completely.

Finally, Bill pocketed the small orb once more before closing his eyes.

He could use a nap as well.

 

* * *

 

The look in Dipper's golden eyes was almost emotionless as he sat in Bill's lap, his head pressed against the demon's chest. The two of them watched as some of Cipher's henchmaniacs tormented and taunted a group of time cops who had ventured outside their time line, somehow ending up in the nightmare realm.

Speaking of time, Dipper wasn't so sure if it even had meaning in this world. No matter how long he seemed to be here, he just didn't seem to age at all. All he knew, 100 years could have passed in the real world and he wouldn't know. He'd always be stuck in his pre-teen form.

At first, dealing with the henchmaniacs and the other inhabitants of Bill's realm had been horrifying, but as his body had slowly turned and attuned to this dark world, the never ending madness and weirdness slowly lost its horror value.

Dipper stared at the back of his hand that was covered in golden triangle markings and runes. They had started to appear one by one, until his arms and back were covered in them, showing just whom he belong to.

The boy actually winced when Bill suddenly cackled out loud when one of the Time Cops got turned into stone by an eye bat and got tossed around by the demons, much to the cop's partners' terror.

"Oh I'm loving this!" the demon mused, only to yank the chain around Dipper's neck to get the boy's attention to him. "Hey Pine Tree, aren't you loving this too?"

Dipper shifted slightly in Bill's lap but didn't say anything. Cipher was good to him, when he behaved, but could turn a very scary and malicious in an instant if something didn't go his way.

At first, he had tried to help those who had fallen into Bill's world, but after witnessing the same result over and over again, he had given up, not wanting to get mocked and punished by the demon who could be terrifying when he wanted to be.

"Oh I know that look on your face, you are home sick aren't you kiddo?" Bill asked teasingly. “Do you miss your family? Your sister perhaps? You haven't whined about them for a while.”

"Y...yeah, a little bit, that's all" Dipper replied and tried not to look at the humans who reminded him of home.

 _I hate you,_ the boy thought and tried to search his memory to find what he had lost, but as usual, he couldn't remember that girl.

As time had passed, the memories the demon had left him with had started to fade too. The human child desired nothing more than to recall his sister, but no matter how hard he begged Bill, the demon stayed adamant and refused to return those memories.

As the years passed, Dipper found himself starting to have trouble recalling even the rest of his family with clarity.

 _I wonder what they are doing? Are they still trying to find me?_ He pondered, realizing that he had not thought about his sister for a while, it was still too painful, no matter how much time had passed. _Or_ h _ave everyone continued their lives already, never thinking of me?_

Bill noticed the hopeless and somewhat sorrowful look in his pet's golden eyes and grinned maliciously.

"Well too bad you can't do anything about it," the demon jeered at him before forcing Dipper to look into his golden eyes that were the same hue as his.

They were family.

"I'm the only one you'll have Pine Tree," Bill said with a soft laugh and Dipper knew that he spoke the truth. He had no one else.

No matter how much he hated the demon for what he had done to him, there was no one else in this insane world he could rely on. He was Bill's pet and companion and there was no escaping that.

Much to Dipper's disgust he had actually grown dependent on Cipher and feared of being left alone.

The demon smiled when Dipper lowered his gaze in defeat and sign of submission.

“Good boy, I do love you, you know?” the demon asked mockingly and petted Dipper who relaxed in the demon's lap. “I'll never let you leave, nor will I abandon you~”

“I know,” Dipper sighed as he eyed the demon's henchmaniacs with a disinterested look in his golden eyes. There was nothing he could do for them.

The nightmare demon had a strong grip on his psyche and Dipper knew he'd never be free of him, or if he'd even want to.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! I finished this! Even if I couldn't get this chapter down the way I wanted it. 
> 
> ....now I'm kinda tempted to write some short "years later" epilogue with Mabel stumbling upon her brother in the forest. He has not aged a day unlike her.
> 
> Thanks for reading this :D I had so much fun writing this.
> 
> I keep wondering if I should change the genre to general. This is not really a romantic pairing here -_-


	10. Mabel

Gnomes observed from their hiding places a woman who was making her way through the dense magical forest.

The Pines lady was a common sight in the never ending woods surrounding Gravity Falls and she had befriended a great number of the folk there over the years. Unfortunately none had been able to help Mabel in her search for her long lost twin who had just vanished that summer. Truly, the woman's desire to find her lost brother was admirable, even if her search had been all for naught.

Mabel fixed a straw of her brunette hair behind her ear as she climbed over a fallen tree trunk and made her way deeper and deeper into the old forest. She was carrying a large backpack containing supplies for at least two or three days.

Even after 20 years she had not given up on finding Dipper, no matter what others said.

The years following Dipper's disappearance had been nightmarish to the whole family and the rumors had spread like wildfire. Police had investigated the town and the forest thoroughly and there were even some nasty rumors about the Pines family being suspicious, yet Mabel had never cared about what others thought of her. That summer, her parents had to drag her back home, even though it had been hard for them as well.

Her family along with everyone else, excluding Stanley and Stanford, had thought her stories about Bill to be just ravings of a broken hearted girl who had come up with some tale to explain her beloved twin's disappearance so that she wouldn’t have to face the truth.

Dipper’s disappearance had torn her family apart and she had moved permanently to Gravity Falls the moment she had turned 18.

Returning to the Mystery Shack had been almost too painful, especially after Ford had burned all his research to make sure no one would find a way to open a rift and endanger the world. According to him, Bill had to be forgotten and the knowledge of him lost. After that, Mabel had not wanted to see him and still felt bitter towards Ford.

20 years was a long time to spend searching for someone.

Back in the day, she had spent weeks scouring the woods and trying to find information how to force a contract with the demon or to get him to show up, but Bill had never appeared in her dreams and nightmares.

The funny thing about life was that no matter how painful it became, it went on whether you liked it or not.

 As the years had passed, while the pain had remained, she had learned to live with it, even if she missed Dipper every day. Slowly she had started to see people again and spend time with them. Stanley, Wendy, Candy, Soos, and Grenda had all been there to support Mabel in her time of need. Eventually she had found herself helping out Stanley more and more before eventually getting a job in the town that was also time consuming.

 At times, Mabel hated herself for letting the search for Dipper lose its priority, but the sad thing was that it couldn’t consume her life, not anymore. As an adult, she had responsibilities.

Mabel had never been good with research, but her knowledge about the region and the anomalities was impressive, even to Ford who had disappeared shortly after Dipper had been taken. She had spent a great amount of time trying to force the demon to appear, but Bill had stayed silent for 2 decades.

“That pixie's tale better be true,” the Mabel muttered as she made her way deeper and deeper into the depths of the forest.

One fairy girl had told her about a section in the woods that was veiled in unnatural shadows, a dark and cold place all the forest creatures tried to avoid. To Mabel, it sounded like a perfect place to search, even if the forest folk said that those who ventured into the area returned a bit...changed.  Something wasn't quite right about them; there was madness in their eyes.

“I wonder what you look like now Dipper,” Mabel sighed and her heart ached as he recalled what her brother had looked all those years ago. “If you even are alive.” After losing him, she had felt like a half of a person.

The sun started to fall towards the edge of the horizon and the shadows grew deeper and longer, more so than normally at this time of a day. The dark shadows licked and coiled around the trees, veiling the area in unnatural darkness. The horizon burned with gold, red and violet, making the forest an eerie and otherworldly. Mabel could swear she saw golden insects but maybe it was a trick of the light.

“Is this the place?” Mabel wondered out loud and studied her surroundings, only to hear scratching sound nearby.

A loud yelp escaped Mable’s lips when she suddenly tripped over a gnarled root that stuck out of the ground. She fell forward and hit the mossy forest floor in quite painful manner, the gear inside her backpack rattling quite loudly.

“Oww,” the adult woman let out and rubbed her knee slightly, only to hear that soft scratching sound again, like someone was writing or drawing something.

Mabel lifted her gaze to see a huge fallen and moss covered red tree trunk before her. Her eyes widened in surprise and disbelief when she saw a young boy sitting there and drawing a small mushroom with teeth next to him. It sprouted from the dead tree and looked nasty.

 _This has to be a dream. I hit my head for sure,_ Mabel thought, only to start questioning her sanity when she came to the conclusion that she was not in fact dreaming.

All she could do was stare the boy who was not paying any attention to her.

“Dipper?” Mabel finally asked and stood. She almost didn’t dare to blink, fearing that if she did so, her brother would disappear.

 

The boy stopped writing and lifted his gaze to meet Mabel’s and she wasn’t sure whether she was relieved, happy or terrified.

It was her brother, looking almost completely the same as the day she had lost him. Dipper had not aged a single day, yet...he had been changed. His eyes had changed color to bright gold. They were eyes of a demon.

“It is you...isn't it? I've been looking for you for so long,” Mabel said and she feared that her voice would fail her. She was unable to express her emotions at that moment. Her mind was in turmoil and her emotions were mixed into a storm inside her heart.

 

Mabel had spent 20 years looking for Dipper and there he was staring at her and writing in to his journal like he had all those years ago. It was Dipper, her brother, her precious twin. She had finally found him.

However, a cold feeling of dread overwhelmed Mabel when she saw the alarmed look in Dipper’s golden eyes. It was as if...he didn't recognize her at all or was surprised by her calling him “Dipper.”

Those eyes made Mabel recall the sock opera event from her youth.

“Is it you Dipper? Or...someone else?” the adult woman found herself asking, half fearing that her brother was gone and that it was actually the demon.

Dipper seemed to hesitate and closed the book with a golden triangle mark on the cover that read “46” before standing up on the moss covered tree trunk.

“I'm not him, if that's what you asking, not today at least,” the boy said quietly and somewhat cryptically, “and hopefully not tomorrow either. Whenever he decides to possess me, it is uncomfortable. Bill just loves to take control from me.”

Mabel couldn’t help but sigh in relief, even if Dipper was acting strangely. 20 years with a mind demon probably did that. Her brother was clearly scared, but seemed also curious.

_I won't lose you. I won’t let him take you from me again. I will save you Dipper._

 

“Who are you?” Dipper finally asked and held the journal tightly in his arms. “I haven't met you before, nor have I dreamed of you. You are a human.” There was sadness in Dipper’s golden eyes and he seemed to almost tremble.

Mabel tried to calm down, but her heart kept racing. She started approaching her brother with shaky legs, fearing that she’d fall onto the soft moss, unable to get up.

 _He doesn't remember me? What has that demon done to him?_ Mabel thought, only to recall the demon's dark promise the night he had taken Dipper from her.

“It...Its ok if you don't remember me, Dipper, we met a long time ago. I remember you very fondly though,” Mabel started as she walked over to her brother who was staring down at her with a wary look in his eyes. All she needed to do was grab his leg and pull him down.

“Do you visit this place often? Do you remember Gravity Falls?” Mabel asked with a smile and offered both of her hands to show that she was not hiding anything.

 _Does he remember anything after 20 years in that world?_ Mabel wondered. Some of her memories had become very cloudy and faded over the years, but she still remembered all of her loved ones.

Dipper hesitated and looked around, as if trying to see if someone was nearby, but Mabel could swear it was just the two of them.

“Bill said that I should not venture beyond the shadowed parts,” Dipper said and peered into the shadows, as if to see if someone was there, only to turn his gaze back at Mabel who could sense that her brother was curious about her, even if he was confused and scared.

 “Why is that? There are so many people in the town who'd love to see you again, Dipper, why haven't you visited them?” Mabel asked, wondering why on earth he had not come to the town.  
Dipper shook his head and swallowed.

“He told me that I'm no longer a human, that I might look like one, but in truth I’m a demon. If he knew that I went there he'd...” The boy started but trailed off. No doubt the damn demon had conditioned her brother over the years. The mere idea made Mabel seethe in hatred. “I don’t belong there. The nightmare realm is my home now and Bill is all I have.”

 Mabel couldn’t even fathom what Cipher had done to Dipper who had given his soul and mind to the demon long ago.

“That’s…that’s not true! You are not a demon, Dipper, you are a human! Surely you have to remember Wendy, Soos and your great uncles. And what about your family? Mother, father….sister.”

“No! I can't. I don't want to,” Dipper snapped at her, his golden eyes wide with pain and anger. “I can’t remember them...I just can’t.”

The boy was now gritting his teeth and moved one hand to hold his head slightly, as if trying to endure something, a painful memory perhaps.

“Bill is all I have.”

It was as if recalling all the people who loved him was too painful.

 

Mabel feared that her brother would run back to the demon’s arms whose fault this all was. Never in her life had she imagined Dipper to become so dependent on Bill. It sickened her. 20 years of nightmares had broken her brother’s spirit,

“I so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I… Can I see your journal? You were drawing something. I'd love to see what you drew,” Mabel tried when her brother was clearly getting agitated.

 

“I don't know, Bill doesn't like it when I talk to the other demons or show these to them.” The secrets of the universe were only for them to share together.  
“Well I am not a demon, am I?” Mabel replied and tried to lure her brother closer. “I'm a human, just like you. I remember when you only had 3 journals so I'm sure you've made a lot of progress. I'd love to see it.”

After a moment of hesitation, Dipper finally leaned slightly downwards to give her the journal.

However, the moment the boy's hand came to her reach. Mabel grabbed it into vice like hold and pulled her golden eyed brother down to her.

“Wait what? No! Let go of me!” Dipper yelled when the strange adult human who looked somehow familiar pulled him down.

“Dipper calm down! Do you really not recognize me? It’s me, Mabel...I'm your sister,” the adult twin explained and tried to control the struggling boy who refused to listen to her. She could understand that Dipper might not recognize her, after all, it had been 2 decades, but to her horror he just stared at her fearfully and tried to get away.

“No, no, no…Bill…help me!” Dipper cried.

His pleads for the demon to help him made Mabel so angry. She could still remember how scared, hopeless and in pain he had been that night, struggling to get back home…and now he was pleading for the demon to save him from her.

“Dipper, you need to come with me, please...I know I look older, but I am your sister, surely you remember your twin!? You have to!” she pleaded all heart broken. Mabel’s whole body trembled and her heart was racing. She had spent 2 decades trying to find her brother and she was not going to let him go now, no matter what. She’d hold onto him even if the demon himself appeared to pull Dipper back into the nightmare realm. Bill would have to take her with him.

“You have to remember me! Bill took you from us that summer! He pulled you into that dark and twisted world to torture and play with you, to break you before taking you to his nightmare realm. I've been looking for you all this time! You are my brother....so please just remember me,” Mabel cried only and knelt down. She wrapped her arms around Dipper into a tight hug, the same way she had done all those years ago.

She was not going to let go until Dipper remembered her.

“We have not forgotten you! Not me, Soos, Stanley, mom, dad, Wendy, Grenda, Candy or even Robbie...We all miss you and remember you, so you have to remember us as well! The brother I know wouldn’t be so cruel to forget us all; no matter how painful it was to recall us.”

Dipper thrashed in panic, but to Mabel’s relief, his struggles started to die down. 

“Dipper listen to me. Your name is Mason Pines, you are from California and this world,” Mabel pleaded with large and warm tears trailing down her face. “You are human and my brother. I've been looking for you 20 years and you have been in my thoughts every day for all this time. We didn't abandon you.”

Mabel didn't know how Dipper had found his way into this world, whether it was because the veil was weak or because he had originally been human, but that didn't matter to her. All she wanted was to take him back home, back to Gravity Falls. She was not going to let anyone hurt her brother ever again.

Finally after what had felt like an eternity, Dipper calmed down and just breathed rapidly in his sister's hold, hyperventilating. Tears kept trailing down Mabel's face and she started to sob slightly.  She felt like a 12 year old again.

“Dipper, I've missed you so much,” she cried and just hugged the startled boy whose golden eyes were filled with confusion, fear but also something else. Slowly, he lifted his arms and hugged the adult woman back. Her scent reminded him of something from long time ago.

Dipper’s head hurt like hell, worse than ever before. Sometimes Bill liked to mess around with his mind, leaving a headache but this was something else. It felt as if there were memories trying to force their way to the surface.

“Mabel...” Dipper whispered, as if feeling the name. For some reason another name came to his mind. “Shining like a Shooting Star.”

“Yes! That's me Dipper! Shooting Star is the name Bill used. I know I'm older but....but it is still me, just like you are still you. Please, won't you return with me to the Gravity Falls? I won't force you, but I'd like that. Afterwards, you can return here later if you want,” Mabel said and knew she was lying through her teeth.

 Not in a million years would she let Dipper return here, but she was willing to do anything to get her brother out of this forest and back to the civilization. She had a bad feeling that Bill had more power in this twilight forest. She’d have to get her brother away fast.

The only problem was...it was at least 1½ day walk back to the town.

 

When her brother had finally calmed down, Mabel pulled from the tight embrace and she knew she had to look laughable with her tear stained face. She took hold of Dipper’s hands and smiled at him.

“I'm so happy Dipper that I finally found you. Please, let’s go home together. Mom and dad miss you so much, just like everyone else,” Mabel said and all her words seemed to jog her brothers' memory. He had probably sealed all the painful memories away and she couldn't blame him. Bill, that damn demon was to blame.

“Ok, Mabel, I'll go with you,” the golden eyes boy whispered, even if he still looked hesitant and fearful, as if afraid of his owner’s anger.

Mabel couldn’t help but grin as she took her brothers hand and started to lead him back towards the town.

 

* * *

 

 

Mabel could feel her eye lids starting to get heavy as she lied on the tent’s floor and turned the pages of Dipper's journal

The two of them had traveled the whole day even if her brother had been all jumpy and distressed about leaving the shadowed part of the woods.

To Mabel's worry, Dipper’s energy had started to drain fast once they had made it into the normal woods. After hours of walking, he had become too exhausted and drained to continue. It was as if traversing the normal world was exhausting for him.

The two of them had set up a camp in a small clearing Mabel had used a couple of times before. They had sat around a campfire and she had told Dipper about the things he had forgotten. It all had happened so long time ago and Mabel couldn’t help but feel old. Eventually he had fallen asleep against her and she had taken him inside the tent.

 _I'll protect you and mend your mind,_ Mabel thought as she stared at her sleeping brother. She had only one sleeping bag with her and she had given it to Dipper who was sleeping like a log.

The weather had turned foul by the time the night had fully settled in and the wind was howling outside. A small camping lantern was their only source of light and Mabel refused to turn it off in fear of the darkness swallowing Dipper.

The adult woman felt tired after the long day of walking, but she refused to fall asleep in case Bill tried something and she tried to keep herself occupied with her brother's journal.

As she went through the pages, the shadows cast by the lantern grew longer and darker. The dark forms on the tent’s walls were watching them both and Mabel could swear that they slowly reached for her brother sleeping form when she wasn’t looking.

“These pictures are so detailed,” Mabel found herself whispering as she studied all the horrendous and nightmarish creatures her brother had recorded on the pages. On one page was a female looking demon with a name “Pyronica” written next to it and on another “eye bat” with a long list of notes.

 _I hate these_ , she thought and grit her teeth in anger.

The notes were detailed and written with great intrigue...like her brother was enjoying recording these monstrosities. Perhaps the worst thing was that there was a second writer, the hand writing distinctive from her brother's. No doubt Bill had written the books with Dipper, adding his own flavor and comments to the pages.

She could see a dialogue between the two and the fact that the journal was numbered “46”, meant that Cipher had probably written all of them with her brother.

_These journals are a mockery of great uncle Ford’s journals._

“Curse that demon,” Mabel hissed and slammed the book shut only to lower her voice when her brother whimpered and turned in his sleep. “I won't forgive him.”

As she watched her twin, Mabel’s expression softened a bit and she felt like she was about to cry again.

She was going to make sure Cipher would never ever get his demonic hands on him again. Dipper was a human and belonged to this world. It might take some time, maybe even few years, but she was going to help him remember everything.

The adult woman wrapped her arms around her brother and hugged him tightly, ignoring the coldness.

“I won't let him take you, Dipper. I won't lose you no matter what. I'll protect you,” Mabel whispered to her brother, trying to ignore the heavy shadows that looked threatening and foreboding. “Ford failed you, and I will never forgive him. I’d risk the entire world to get you back.”

However, no matter how hard she tried to stay awake, Mabel finally found herself in the sweet embrace of sleep and dreams...or more precisely, nightmares.

Mabel wasn't sure how long time had passed when she stirred from her slumber.

“Mmmh…Dipper?” she asked all drowsily and rubbed her eyes a bit, only to realize that the sleeping bag was empty and that her brother was nowhere to be seen. The lamp had run out of battery a long time ago.

“Dipper!” Mabel yelled again and opened the tent door. Only when she gazed at the woods around her, did she realize that everything was grey with no color whatsoever. It was otherworldly. From the trees and sky she could see that the wind was strong, but she couldn’t feel anything. Everything was still, dead.

“I am dreaming, aren’t I?” Mabel asked herself as she eyed her surroundings. Dipper had described what a dream with Bill felt like and this had to be it.

 A soft gasp escaped her lips when she finally turned her gaze forward and saw a man sitting across her on one of the 4 large logs surrounding a camp fire that had died a good while back. The Pines woman swallowed and could feel the cold dread strangle her heart.

She didn’t have to guess twice who the young man sitting there was because he had her sleeping brother in his arms. Bill along with Dipper were the only colorful things in this world of grey. Cipher’s golden hair, eyes and clothing were bright and unnatural and the pitch black claw like hands made the man look truly monstrous to Mabel.

The sight of the demon petting her sleeping brother made the blood inside the woman’s veins boil.

“Dipper!!” Mabel yelled and tried to rush at them, but the moment she reached a log surrounding the campfire, the demon, who wasn't even looking at her, snapped his fingers.

In an instant, black tendrils emerged from the ground and wrapped themselves around Mabel's arms, forcing her to sit down on the log opposite to Bill.

“Let me go!! And let go of my brother!” Mabel yelled and tried to get out of the tendrils' hold, but they merely coiled tighter around her arms and kept her down.

Cipher still chose to ignore the adult twin and just caressed the boy's cheek softly, running his sharp nails along the boy's forehead to pull all the unneeded new memories from Dipper’s mind until all he remembered was following something in the forest.

“Dipper wake up! You have to get away from him!”

A wide grin formed on Bill’s lips and he clearly enjoyed the power he held over both Pines twins. This dream was Bill’s playground and there was no need for the demon to hurry. He was in total control and the dream would end when he wanted it to. After discarding all the useless memories that had no place inside Pine Tree’s mind, he finally addressed Mabel without even looking at her.

“He can't hear you,” Bill stated and held Dipper closer with possessive look in his eyes. “Only I exist for him in this dream.”

“Dipper...” Mabel whispered and could feel hopelessness overwhelm her. She had been so close to saving him.

After a moment, Bill finally lifted his gaze from his prisoner’s face and stared into Mabel's eyes with a cruel albeit somehow vexed smile on his face.

“I should kill you, you know,” Bill whispered and drummed his fingers against his pet's forehead, making the boy shift in discomfort when the sharp nails felt uncomfortable. The demon stopped.

“You've caused my pet quite much distress...and only I can do that,” the nightmare demon continued and felt his prisoner’s soft and vulnerable neck with his claw like hand, squeezing it lightly to make the boy frown and gasp for air in his sleep. “I’m the source of Pine Tree’s nightmares. He fears and needs me, knowing that I’m the only one he has.”

Mabel was seething.

“It is really a shame I can't deal with you in this dream world. My power extends only to Pine Tree here,” Bill explained and pulled Dipper’s sleeve up to show the markings to Mabel. Her brother’s arms and back were covered in runes. “I'd love to have him watch me drive you insane before tearing your body apart piece by piece, without any idea who you are,’” the demon mused and laughed maliciously, his grin so wide now that it made his golden eyes narrow.

“Cipher, let my brother go, he has endured your horrifying world long enough. I've been looking for him so long!” Mabel almost growled and tried her bindings once more, but the shadow tendrils refused to let go of her arms. Their grip was almost painful now. “He is not your pet! He is a human being. And most importantly, he doesn’t belong to you or anyone!”

The demon cocked his head slightly in mocking manner and eyed her maliciously.

“Oh but Pine Tree is my pet. I captured him and tamed him. I’ve fed and taken care of him all these years and when I get bored of him momentarily, I can just let him play all alone with his books,” Bill said and cackled.

The truth was, he never got bored of Dipper but she didn’t need to know that. “And most importantly, I punish him when he breaks the rules. So, he is my pet,” Bill explained with half lidded eyes as he held Dipper close in his corruptive hold.

“I told him not to talk with humans, stupid kid...” Bill sighed, the look in his golden eyes frustrated and somewhat angry. “Even after all this time, he still tries my patience by breaking the rules. I finally decided to give him some freedom and he tries to run away. A truly hopeless case if you ask me.”

“He. is. not. a. pet,” Mabel hissed through his teeth and Bill couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“True, maybe he is even lesser than that. After all, Pine Tree here gave his soul and mind to me willingly. He was so hopeless and desperate, you should have seen it Shooting Star. Your brother is such a foolish and moronic child…and all mine.”

“You monster!” Mabel yelled and wanted to attack the demon, but once again it was all futile. She knew Cipher was toying with her but she refused to just endure this.

“I know all about you, Shooting Star, don't think I haven't forgotten about Pines family,” Bill said with a malicious leer and ran his fingers through Dipper’s soft hair. “It might take few more decades, but I will slowly make my way into your world. I don’t need you, Sixer or anyone to open me a portal anymore,” Bill stated and looked down at Dipper’s sleeping face once more, his golden eyes somewhat dreamy, “and it is all thanks to your brother. He has turned into a proper demon and thanks to him once being a human, he holds more power here. He slowly spreads my influence in this forest and eventually, the veil between my and this world will become thin enough for me to pass through.”

“That's why my brother was in this world,” Mabel realized.

Dipper whimpered and shifted slightly in the demon's hold, but Bill merely smiled and held the boy close, caressing his forehead.

“Shh, it is alright Pine Tree, I'll erase all these painful memories that try to surface. There is no need to fill your head with things you don't have to know.”

“No! Don't hurt him!” Mabel cried out, making Bill look at her with somewhat sadistic expression on his handsome face.

“No? But he talked to you without my permission and tried to escape with you, Shooting Star,” the demon whispered and searched his pocket for something. “He tried to leave me which is something that he should know better not to do. After all, last time he tried it, I left him to suffer nightmares alone for a year.”

Mabel watched in confusion and fear when the demon pulled out a small glass sphere with something golden inside it.

“Do you know what this is? Take a guess,” Bill said with a creepy smile and was clearly having hard time trying not to cackle. That terrifying smile on the blond demon’s face made Mabel want to just wake up, but she suspected that if she did, Dipper wouldn't be there...she had to get him back from Bill somehow.

“An orb?”

“Close...it is a memory sphere. Can you guess what memories it contains?” Bill kept inquiring and this time Mabel knew.

She had not forgotten Bill's dark promise to her brother two decades ago. It pained her to think that Dipper had actually lived all this time with no memory of her. It was just too agonizing to think of.

“Me?” Mabel asked with a thin and weak voice. Her heart was pounding and she felt like the world around her was going dark. Could she faint inside a dream?

“And we have a winner,” Bill cackled with a truly sinister look in on his demonic eyes. Suddenly Mabel wanted that small orb to be anywhere else than in Bill's hand.

“Now, what do you think will happen if I did this?” Bill continued and to Mabel's horror he started to apply pressure on the small glass orb.

“No! Please don't!” Mabel yelled, not hiding her desperation from the nightmare demon who loved it. She was ready to do anything to get that orb. Being forgotten by her brother was probably even worse than being dead. He wouldn’t even have the knowledge of her existence. She couldn’t endure the idea of Dipper ever being able to recall her.

“Don't punish him like this!”

“I am not only punishing him, Shooting Star. I'm punishing you as well.”

“Don't make him forget me completely Bill! Don't take me from my brother,” Mabel panicked and tried his bindings violently once more. She refused to let this happen.

“That look of despair,” Bill laughed and kept applying more pressure on the orb until they heard a small sharp sound that made Mabel's blood run cold. There was a small crack on the glass. 

“I don't think your brother needs to remember you, I mean...you've clearly moved on as well,” the nightmare whispered venomously. “You have your friends, work and community around you...taking time to look for your brother only a couple of times each year. You've clearly forgotten everything about him. Why should he remember such a horrible sister?” Bill asked, loving the look of shock, disbelief, anger and hate on Mabel's face.

All this time, Bill had observed them all, never bothering to present himself. He was always watching.

“Shut up! You took him from me! You can't say these things!” Mabel yelled, denying the manipulative demon's words. “You are the reason for his pain not me!”

 “You know Shooting Star, consider this a release from your search, because after this, there is no longer any point for you to search for Pine Tree here,” Bill said and the Mabel noticed how the greyness around her turned into deep red and black, giving her a glimpse of the nightmare world, what it could be at its worst. The demon's eyes had turned red as well, his expression truly malevolent.

“After this, he will never remember you…like you said, you don’t even exist in his mind.”

 _Is this what Dipper has endured all these years_? _This nightmare_? Mabel thought before the world turned back to dead grey.

Bill merely caressed Dipper's hair with his free and leered at the adult woman, still holding the slightly cracked orb.

Much to their surprise, Dipper stirred from his sleep and opened his golden eyes that looked so beautiful.

“Oh, you woke up?” Cipher asked and smiled in somewhat cruel manner to his little pet who looked scared and terrified of him.

“Dipper!” Mabel yelled but the boy didn’t even notice her.

“Bill...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…I followed someone, even though you told me not to,” the boy whispered, but went silent when the demon hushed him.

 “I’ll deal with you soon enough, Pine Tree,” Bill purred and Mabel felt a part of her soul die when she saw how Dipper hugged the demon who leered at him in possessive and cruel manner.

Finally, Bill looked at Mabel one last time.

 

“Don't try finding him again...next time you do, I'll make your friends forget you as well,” Bill laughed and it was over in an instant.

Before Mabel could scream or plead the demon to stop, the small glass ball exploded into countless shards underneath the pressure. The golden mist inside it escaped and the strings of memories just faded into nothingness.

“We won't meet again Shooting Star,” Bill said and cackled in an insane manner, his golden eyes shining malevolently in the darkness as he looked at Dipper who knew that only nightmares awaited him.

“What should I do with you, Pine Tree? We got all the time in the universe, unlike someone…”

With a snap of the demon's fingers and the tentacles coiled upwards and around Mabel’s body and neck. The pressure got unbearable and Mabel found herself gasping for air. The shadows tightened and tightened until she could hear a sickening crunching sound and in an instant, the dream was over and Bill and Dipper gone with it.

 

The woods around her were dark, with only the wind and occasional owl hoot filling the silence.

Tears started to stream down her face and Mabel took hold of her head, only to scream in pain and agony, calling her brother whom she had lost completely.

 

* * *

 

 

Bill hummed softly as he carried Dipper through the nightmare world to the same bed where the kid had spent his first night (though day cycle didn’t really exist there.)

“Bill, really I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I don’t know why I disobeyed you,” Dipper pleaded, but the demon merely leered at him, his golden eyes narrowed and dangerous looking.

“After all this time, you still don’t obey me,” Cipher sighed as they came to the bed. “You truly are a hopeless case, aren’t you Pine Tree? Such a foolish and unruly child.”

He no longer had any memories of Mabel and recalled only a formless shadow leading him towards the town. The demon set Dipper down onto the bed and got on it as well.

“What on earth should I do with you? Maybe a year of nightmares? Or perhaps you’d like to spend some time inside a cage with only shadows to keep you company?” Bill asked and lifted Dipper’s chin up so that his prisoner was forced to look into his eyes. “You even lost your journal…”

The boy trembled and wanted to avert his gaze, but couldn’t.

“Bill please, I’m sorry. I’ll do anything you want,” Dipper almost cried and hugged the demon tightly, regretting his decision to leave the twilight woods.

Bill leered at Dipper, his grin so wide that it looked unnatural on his face. “You shouldn’t have tried to leave me.”

Dipper could barely breathe as he waited for the demon to decide on his punishment. Finally a cruel albeit loving smirk formed on Bill’s face. The golden eyed boy swallowed and averted his gaze. The loving look often times meant the worst things.

“Pine Tree, I’ll have you sleep and dream the nightmares of the void,” Bill whispered and caressed Dipper’s head. The demon smiled dreamily with half lidded eyes as his little prisoner clung onto him, not wanting to let go.

Those nightmares were so cold, lonely and horrifying, reminding him of the time in that horrible crossroads realm so long time ago. They were nightmares formed from the most terrifying things of human mind.

“I’m sorry Cipher, don’t leave me here to dream all alone,” Dipper pleaded all heart broken and refused to let go of Bill, but the demon merely rolled his eyes and finally pushed his prisoner away from him so that he fell onto the bed.

Bill smiled at the boy who looked at him hopelessly before finally accepting his punishment. He was going to let the demon put him into those terrifying, mind consuming nightmares without a fight.

“I’m sorry Bill, dream with me for a while, please…”

If Bill had a heart, he might have felt bad for the boy who pleaded him not to go, to forgive him and not punish him…but he was a demon and seeing Dipper like this was intoxicating. The boy had really given his mind, heart and soul to him.

He had to remind his little pet of the rules he had broken. He needed to purify Dipper of the human taint again and as much as he hated to admit it, shooting star had almost saved her brother. 

“I will not let you go, Pine Tree. You are mine till the universe ends,” Cipher whispered and caressed Dipper’s face as the boy started to fall asleep against his will.

“Don’t go,” Dipper whispered, almost like a child who didn’t want a parent to leave their bedside. He cherished Bill’s touch as he closed his eyes.

The demon watched somewhat amused how few sentient small shadows gathered around the sleeping boy after a while, few of them daring to climb on top of him, their red eyes shining.

The demon shooed them away, wanting to let his prisoner dream in peace.

Bill smiled possessively and lied down next to Dipper to observe him for a moment before leaving him to suffer his nightmares all alone. His pet never ceased to amuse him. Now he’d never remember his sister…he was all the boy had.

“Sweet dreams.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it. This is done. The epilogue does feel a bit strange but I don't know what's wrong with it. Hope you all liked this. I had so much fun writing this,  
> Next on my list are  
> Demon's Daydream and Spiral of Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Oooh, poor little Dipper is now in completely new world.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Shadowed Path: Alternate Ending](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14949920) by [CartoonNerd12](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CartoonNerd12/pseuds/CartoonNerd12)




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